If you’re not coughing or sneezing by now, you either are very lucky or never leave your house! Unless you are stuck under several inches of snow in the North East, staying boxed in the house during flu season is not an option for many of us.

Human contact is almost impossible to avoid, whether you are riding public transportation to work, a teacher, or a parent of kids in the school system, odds are you are doomed.

The big bad scary 2015 flu is here. We have all heard the stories on the news or word of mouth, but here is what the CDC (Center of Disease Control and Prevention) has to say about this year’s flu:

The United States experiences epidemics of seasonal flu each year, and right now all of CDC’s influenza surveillance systems are showing elevated activity. Influenza-like-illness (ILI) has been over baseline for the past several weeks, virological surveillance shows a lot of flu is circulating, and the hospitalization surveillance system shows increasing hospitalizations rates, especially in people 65 years and older.

So, we all know what is next…we get sick miss a couple days or a week of work and come back to work finding our coworker is also out, or your son or daughter misses a week of school. BUT what can we do to prevent this flu monster from reaching us? Here are some recommended tips:

1.Wash your hands and then wash them again!

2. Stay away from sick people—if only it was that easy

3. Stay Hydrated

4. Get plenty of sleep—that’s not so easy either!

    

The big bad flu of 2015 is hard to avoid, but we can always try to fight it! Stay healthy this winter!

For more tips and information on the 2015 flu, check out CDC’s website: http://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/season/flu-season-2014-2015.htm