Avoid Contact With Others
If you are sick, you may be ill for a week or longer. You should
stay home and keep away from others as much as possible, including
avoiding travel and not going to work or school, for at least 24 hours
after your fever is gone except to get medical care or for other
necessities. (Your fever should be gone without the use of
fever-reducing medicine.) If you leave the house to seek medical care,
wear a facemask, if available and tolerable, and cover your coughs and
sneezes with a tissue. In general, you should avoid contact with other
people as much as possible to keep from spreading your illness,
especially people at increased risk of severe illness from influenza.
With seasonal flu, people may be contagious from one day before they
develop symptoms to up to 7 days after they get sick. Children,
especially younger children, might potentially be contagious for longer
periods. People infected with the novel H1N1 are likely to have
similar patterns of infectiousness as with seasonal flu.
Treatment is Available for Those Who Are Seriously III
It is expected that most people will recover without needing medical care.
If you have severe illness or you are at high risk for flu complications, contact your health care provider or seek medical care. Your health care provider will determine
whether flu testing or treatment is needed. Be aware that if the flu
becomes widespread, less testing will be needed, so your health care
provider may decide not to test for the flu virus.
Antiviral drugs can be given to treat those who become severely ill
with influenza. These antiviral drugs are prescription medicines
(pills, liquid or an inhaler) with activity against influenza viruses,
including novel H1N1 flu virus. These medications must be prescribed by
a health care professional.
There are two influenza antiviral medications that are recommended
for use against novel H1N1 flu. The drugs that are used for treating
novel H1N1 flu are called oseltamivir (trade name Tamiflu ®) and
zanamivir (Relenza ®). As the novel H1N1 flu spreads, these antiviral
drugs may become in short supply. Therefore, the drugs may be given
first to those people who have been hospitalized or are at high risk of
severe illness from flu. The drugs work best if given within 2 days of
becoming ill, but may be given later if illness is severe or for those
at a high risk for complications.
Aspirin or aspirin-containing products (e.g., bismuth subsalicylate
– Pepto Bismol) should not be administered to any confirmed or
suspected ill case of novel influenza A (H1N1) virus infection aged 18
years old and younger due to the risk of Reye’s syndrome. For relief of
fever, other anti-pyretic medications are recommended such as
acetaminophen or non steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. For more
information about Reye’s syndrome, visit the National Institute of Health website
.
- Check ingredient labels on over-the-counter cold and flu medications to see if they contain aspirin.
- Children 5 years of age and older and teenagers with the flu can take medicines without aspirin, such as acetaminophen (Tylenol®) and ibuprofen (Advil®, Motrin®, Nuprin®), to relieve symptoms.
- Children younger than 4 years of age should NOT be given over-the-counter cold medications without first speaking with a health care provider.
See the section, Taking Care of a Sick Person in Your Home.
