How can you get protection from the flu?

In listing what we should do everyone says "wash your hands" but no one says "don't share food and drinks." As any mother or school teacher knows, children share food and drinks with each other all the time. And children are the ones that get sick first and are the engine in the spreading of flu throughout the population.

The other thing I haven't heard is for people at work, they should wipe their telephones with an alcohol wipe if they've left their desks for any length of time. It is so common for people in big offices to just use a phone on someone's desk without that person knowing it. I have gotten sick this way and a lot of people know to do this. This makes much more sense than telling people to wipe down their keyboards as I have heard.

I personally believe that getting back to basics...like simple washing
of the hands and overall personal hygeine comes into play more
than ever now. The media can literally make people scared to even
leave their homes, and panic is certainly not needed during chaos.
I myself would not take a flu shot, as I have never taken one in the
past...I trust that my immune system can and will take care of me
in the event that my body in is contact with something unfamiliar.

I've been wondering why there have been no news stories (at least that I've seen) about the appalling conditions in which most livestock (swine, cattle etc.) are raised before they are brought to market. Surely, the overcrowding and filth, as well as the almost mandatory use of antibiotics to enable these animals to reach a marketable size have contributed to ever more deadly strains of infection that can be and apparently has been transmitted to humans.

Eliminating as many touches as possible will certainly help. Installing hands free door openers (like StepNpull) on public restroom doors is one way to reduce the spread of germs.

For us here in the UNITED STATES we need to send a message to all pharmacy's that sell tamiflu please don't charge the poor 150.00 to 200.00 who can't afford to pay for it let the goverment give it out for free let's stop this NOW

If more people would follow basic rules for keeping clean we can avoid many things or slow the progression of it. I wish that people would stop being so afraid of things and rail against it. The media I think prays on peoples fears and people think that because it's on TV it must be true. Well a lot of commentary is taken out of context and not everyone's situation is the same as the next. We cannot sit by and cower in the corner and wait till its over we must fight and find ways to combat anything that is put against us. Whether it be sickness, the economy or other things. Take care of each other and God Bless you all. It will be tough but, we will survive.

I am with the County of San Diego (County Counsel) and have a question about flu transmission prevention steps. Regarding masks, they are recommended only in limited circumstances but not for general wearing. And I understand the rationale behind that. However, one universally-accepted (and published) step is to avoid touching one's face with one's hands, especially the mouth and nose. This is obviously because a person cannot have their hands in a perpetual state of being washed, especially when out in public, grabbing handrails and the like. Touching one's face is often not a consciously-made movement. Given the foregoing, isn't it true that wearing a mask would help prevent inadventent touching of one's face? It would clearly actually prevent touching the nose and mouth, and would serve to remind one not to touch their eyes. So why don't the advisory steps simply add "Wearing a face mask may help prevent inadvertent touching of one's face?" It seems like a simple step and no trouble to add to the advisories.

Because healthy people with robust immune systems can sometimes die from novel flu strains (due to the "cytokine storm" process) , I want to pose the following questions: Would it be advantageous for healthy people to contract and recover from this apparantly weak strain in circulation now? Would these people be at an advantage if this strain were to come back more virulent at a later time, since they would have partial immunity to the newer strain (because the body's cytokine production would not be so high)?

Yes I would take it and get my kids to take it as well.