With a flu pandemic, ‘we are all in this together’. Everyone on the planet is interrelated. Virus and other pandemic or epidemic illnesses live ‘in the population’. It is the constant reproduction and sharing of the virus among people that allows the virus to get stronger and survive. If everyone takes precautions to reduce the spread of virus, it is more likely that the pandemic will slow or stop. And as we know from how dangerous is the swine flu, it is the transmission and mutation of virus over time that can result in dangerous changes in its behavior. The importance of taking precautions to prevent spread is especially relevant to people who are sick, since they are liable to spread it the most. Review how is swine flu spread for more information.

• You should stay home for at least 7 days after the start of symptoms, or 24 hours after the end of symptoms, whichever is longer. If you have to go out or are in close proximity to other people, wash your hands regularly and wear an N95 facemask
• Keep your respiratory secretions to yourself. That means making sure you cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or your sleeve when you cough or sneeze. Using your hand isn’t a good idea, because then when you touch something like a doorknob or chair, you contaminate it and others can catch flu from it. Every time you cough or sneeze, you should clean your hands with soap and water or alcohol based cleaner.
• Clean your hands often, especially if you are sick or exposed to people with flu. Use warm water and soap for at least 15 seconds. Cover all of both hands. If you don’t have soap, use alcohol-based hand sanitizer gel or liquid. It should be at least 60% alcohol. Rub it all over both hands until it dries. No water is needed. For more information, see regular hand cleaning.
• People who are regularly within 1 meter of you should be protected with an appropriate facemask. Either the patient or the caregiver should wear the mask. “Surgeons masks” are unlikely to be of any benefit and may give a false sense of security. That’s because the pore size in surgeons masks are too big to stop the virus from getting through. There are appropriate masks and they are called “N95” masks. If there are many cases in your area, it is probably worth getting some masks so that you will have some if a family member gets sick. It’s important to use them properly. For more information see should I wear a facemask?