1.   Touching a surface contaminated with virus and then touching your face. Unwashed hands gives you a 31% chance of getting sick.

2.   Breathing in tiny droplets containing the flu virus dispersed in the air. A person's cough or sneeze gives you a 17% chance of infection.

3.   Breathing in medium-sized droplets containing the flu virus, which do not travel as far or hang in the air as long as tiny droplets.

4.   Having large droplets deposited directly onto your facial membranes.

So what can you do to protect yourself beyond getting flu shots?

·    Wash your hands often. Remember that one of the most common ways people catch colds and the flu is by rubbing their nose or their eyes after their hands have been contaminated with a virus.

·    Routinely clean (with soap and water) and disinfect surfaces, toys, and objects that younger children may put in their mouths. It may also help to wipe surfaces with paper towels that can be thrown away.

·    Use disposable tissues to wipe or blow your child's nose.

·    Teach your children cough etiquette. Teach them to turn their heads and cough or sneeze into a disposable tissue or the inside of their elbow if they don't have a tissue, instead of simply coughing or sneezing onto their hands, which will then spread their germs onto everything they touch.

·    Avoid close contact with people when you are sick. It isn't really possible to completely avoid people who are sick.  But if you are sick, avoid exposing other people to your germs.

·    Avoid unnecessary contact between your children and large groups of people. It isn't easy to always tell when people are sick and some people are contagious even before they start to have symptoms.  Therefore, don't expose younger kids to large crowds of people if you don't have to.

·    Take a reusable water bottle to school instead of using the school water fountain, which may become contaminated with germs, especially during cold and flu season.


Source: WebMD Health News