If you’re of quite an observant nature then you’ll have noticed that surgeries, clinics and some of the major supermarkets have started offering flu jabs in the last few weeks. This can mean only one thing: flu season is upon us and it’s time to ramp up your attitude to hygiene and infection control in order to stay healthy.

What are the risks?

Flu jabs are free for at-risk groups like asthmatics and the elderly but it’s possible to pay for a flu jab if you are concerned about contracting the virus over the autumn and winter period. As anyone who has ever suffered with flu knows, the virus is powerful enough to lay even the most resilient people low for upwards of a week and some strains can even be fatal.

However, promoting a more sensible attitude to flu is not about scaremongering – it’s about assessing the risks and modifying behaviour so that you and your family have the best possible chance of avoiding flu this year.

Even though flu affects a lot of people each year, many more people escape the virus altogether, some of them by fluke, some of them because of immunity and some of them because they have been completely pragmatic about their daily lives.

The key to good infection control

Greater pragmatism comes in handy because good infection control is often simply a matter of washing your hands at every opportunity, not touching your face unnecessarily, carrying a pack of tissues around with you, disposing of those tissues properly and maintaining excellent hygiene standards on your desk, around the office, in the home, in the car and so on.

You can also do yourself a real favour by making sure that your body is in the best position possible to fight illness over the winter. Get plenty of sleep and make sure your diet is full of vitamins and minerals. A poor diet and a frantic lifestyle can seriously undermine your efforts to stay in shape.

Wider concerns

The real worry for some is that bird flu viruses will also return to the fore during flu season and experts concede that this is a possibility. That’s why greater vigilance is always recommended at home, in the workplace and when travelling.

Hospitals, clinics and surgeries play their part by upping the ante with relation to hygiene supplies, cleaning regimes and the use of disposable gloves and face masks, but people will be advised that it’s best to stay away from these places when symptoms of flu arise. Once you have contracted the virus, it’s all about containment and protecting other vulnerable individuals, so keep this in mind through the season.