Home self-care :
- If fever is uncomfortable, take paracetamol at standard recommended doses
- Lowering the fever will not make your illness go away faster, but it may make you more comfortable.
Follow instructions on the label. Talk to your health-care provider about what product to use, dosage, possible side effects, and conditions when you should not use the remedy.
- Get adequate rest. Bed rest can help you feel better.
- Drink plenty of fluids (such as water, broth, sports drinks, juice, soup) to keep from being dehydrated
- Be watchful for emergency warning signs (refer to home monitoring tool *) which will indicate when you need to seek medical attention
- If possible, consideration should be given to maintaining good ventilation in shared household areas (e.g., keeping windows open in restrooms, kitchen, bathroom, etc.).
Patient Advice for Infection Control at Home
- Practice Cough Etiquette:
- Patients must cover their mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing with tissues and clean their hands with soap and water or an alcohol-based hand rub after that. Used tissues should be disposed appropriately in disposal bins.
- Improve Personal Hygiene for All:
- Everyone in the household must clean their hands often, using soap and water or an alcohol-based hand rub.
- Use paper towels for drying hands after hand washing or dedicate cloth towels to each person in the household.
- Clean commonly used utensils or frequent touched surfaces regularly with household detergents.
- Do not share personal utensils:
- Linen, eating utensils and dishes belonging to those who are sick do not need to be cleaned separately , but importantly these items should not be shared without washing thoroughly first
- Used linen, eating utensils should be washed with water and soap.
- Social Distancing:
- Persons with flu are advised not to leave their home when they have fever or during the time they are most likely to spread their infection to others ( Patients are likely to spread the virus from one day before they develop symptoms to up to 7 days after they get sick )
- It is preferable for the sick individual to stay in a room separate from other household members, whenever possible.
- Household contacts esp. those who have co-morbidities (including pregnant women) are advised to stay at least 1 meter away from the patient, whenever possible.
- If a person with the flu needs to leave the home (eg. for medical care), they should wear a surgical mask and practice cough etiquette and good hand hygiene.
Patient Home Assessment Tool
You are advised to seek medical care should you developed any of the symptoms and signs listed below :
|
Signs & symptoms of moderate to severe influenza |
1 |
Respiratory difficulty :
Shortness of breath , rapid breathing or
purple or blue discoloration of lips |
2 |
Coughing out blood or blood streaked sputum |
3 |
Persistent chest pains |
4 |
Persistent diarrhoea and /or vomiting |
5 |
Fever persisting beyond 3 days or recurring after 3 days |
6 |
Abnormal behaviour , confusion , less responsive , convulsion |
7 |
Dizziness when standing and/ or reduced urine production |
|