Long Term CareJanuary 6, 2015

The Taming of the Flu

We roll up our sleeves and line up for flu shots. We teach our kids to sneeze into a tissue or the inside of their elbows. We wash our hands.

Still, 5-20 percent of Americans come down with influenza each year, according to Flu.gov, a website managed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The flu is passed by droplets that are released by infected people when they cough, sneeze or even talk. The virus can live on hard surfaces for up to eight hours, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That includes doorknobs, books, telephones and other items that are touched by more than one person.

Typically, flu season starts in the fall and hits its peak in January and February. Symptoms include fever, chills, coughing, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose and head and body aches. Some people, especially children, have nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.

We know that flu is a disease of opportunity, striking people who are most vulnerable: senior citizens age 65 and older; children younger than two; and people with chronic health conditions, such as asthma, congestive heart failure, diabetes, cancer and HIV/AIDS.

Often, the people who are at greatest risk are exposed to the flu in institutional settings. They have been hospitalized. They live in nursing homes. They are regular visitors in doctors’ waiting rooms.

The surfaces in those places may or may not be safe to touch, depending on the disinfection method—if any—that is used.

The Disinfection Method

Traditional spraying and wiping can get rid of some germs. But manual disinfecting is only as effective as the person who is doing the cleaning.

In contrast, the Halo Disinfection System by Sanosil International removes the human error factor through a fogger that reaches every surface in the room to provide total room disinfection. The system includes aerosolized hydrogen peroxide (APH), which kills the swine flu (H1N1) virus and a number of other pathogens.

Killing the virus means fewer people will get sick. Fewer people will die of the flu and other underlying causes of death, such as pneumonia and respiratory illnesses.

The World Health Organization estimates that flu epidemics “result in about 3 million to 5 million cases of severe illness, and about 250,000 to 500,000 deaths” around the globe each year. The CDC estimates that as many as 49,000 people in the U.S. died of influenza between the flu seasons of 1976-77 and 2006-07.

The bottom line is that we know how to keep the flu virus from spreading, avoiding illnesses and deaths. Flu can be prevented through vaccinations, good personal hygiene and effective surface disinfection. A pervasive illness requires a comprehensive solution.