Unfortunately, cold and flu season is here – and it is no surprise that this coincides with the busiest travel season, too. Not only does that disrupt vacations, but it also leads to missed days from work and school for children. According to the Walgreens Flu Impact Report:
- 100 million work days lost due to flu-related illness last season, resulting in $6.8 billion in lost wages
- One-third of respondents spent between $251 and $1,000 treating the flu last season
- 32 million school days were missed due to flu last season, which also translates to missed work days and other challenges
- Last flu season… Over 1 million weddings were missed, more than 3 million vacations were canceled or interrupted, almost 5 million holiday celebrations were missed
Here are some tips to help avoid catching or spreading the flu, from Walgreens Pharmacist Stacia Woodcock:
- The CDC recommends that everyone over the age of 6 months get a flu shot every year as the best protection – it takes 2 weeks to build up immunity after the shot
- Stay home when sick and you should be fever-free for at least 24 hours before returning to work or school.
- Avoid sharing food, utensils, cups, or bottles. Cover your cough with a tissue and throw away after use. Carry hand sanitizer with you. Use it often during the day and always after touching your face.
- Cough into your sleeve if a tissue is not available. Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth.
- You can be contagious up to 3 days before you have symptoms of the flu, so make sure you practice these tips throughout flu season, not only when you are feeling sick.
WIN IT!
Walgreens wants to help keep you and your family from catching the flu with plenty of products to stay healthy. And one lucky Saving Cents with Sense reader will win a Walgreens Wellness Basket, full of products and a flu shot gift card (value $100).
To Enter:
1) Leave me a comment sharing how you try to stay healthy during flu season.
EXTRA ENTRIES (You can do one or ALL of the following):
2) Subscribe to Saving Cents with Sense in a Reader or Email. Once you confirm your subscription, come back here and leave me a comment. If you are already a subscriber (thank you!), just leave me a comment!
3) Join the Saving Cents with Sense community on Facebook and then come back here to leave a comment telling me.
****Please make sure you leave a comment for each entry! This giveaway ends Thursday, 12/8/11, at 10:00pm PST.**********
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Disclosure: I was given a wellness basket, however, this post was written by me and was not edited by the sponsor. Read more on my Disclosure page. Please be sure to review the Giveaway Terms & Conditions before entering this contest.
And don’t miss all the fun Summer FREEBIES & Discounts available for your kids!
Melissa Hurst, the founder of SavingCentsWithSense.net, is a married mom of three young children, so she understands the importance of stretching a family's budget to maximize savings. After working full-time in higher education for seven years, she pursued a passion of teaching both in the classroom and through her articles to help others. Her money-saving tips have been featured on Arizona Midday, and she is a regular columnist for LifetimeMoms.com and Times Publications in Arizona.
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