Many office workers are attacked by the flu virus due to the habits of many Vietnamese people.

The office is deserted because of the flu.

The changing seasons in the North are favorable conditions for seasonal flu virus strains to break out strongly not only in children but also in adults.

For the past two weeks, a large media company in Dong Da district (Hanoi) has been deserted due to too many employees getting the flu and taking leave en masse.

Ms. Hoang Lan, who is 6 months pregnant, shared that she has also taken a week off and worked from home because she caught the flu from a colleague with symptoms of mild fever of 37.5-38 degrees Celsius, sore throat and cough. Her entire department has more than 10 people, but more than half have the flu, other departments are in a similar situation. On some days, only 2-3 people in the whole department come to work.

“In some cases, if you have to go to the office, you have to wear a mask while working to avoid spreading the disease to others,” said Ms. Lan.

Not only offices, "flu nests" also appeared in many families. Ms. Thanh Thuy (Cau Giay, Hanoi) said that for the past month, her whole family has been suffering from flu. At first, only her youngest son, who is in 2nd grade, had a mild flu, and recovered after 4 days, then her 10-year-old son, and then her husband and her.

She has been suffering from the flu, with sore throat and mild fever for the past month. She has changed her medication 3 times but it has not gone away. The symptoms of cough with phlegm, stuffy nose, and sore throat have been persistent, making her always tired and exhausted. Every time she goes to the office to sit in the air conditioning, her cough and stuffy nose get worse at night. To "recover", she took a week off to stay home, but when she returned to work, the illness relapsed, with occasional chills.

According to statistics from the Department of Preventive Medicine (Ministry of Health), since the beginning of the year, the whole country has had over 200,000 cases of seasonal flu (flu A/H1N1, flu A/H3N2 and flu B) treated at medical facilities, of which the North has the highest number of cases, over 130,000 cases.

It is estimated that each year more than 1 million Vietnamese people contract common seasonal flu, of which A/H1N1 flu is the most common, accounting for about 20-50%.

Flu is also deadly.

During the cold season, viruses live longer in the environment, so the possibility of spreading flu is higher. Common symptoms of seasonal flu are fever, stuffy nose, runny nose, headache, cough... Most cases of seasonal flu will go away on their own after 2-7 days.

However, poor health care during the flu season often leads to respiratory bacterial infections which are very common in the elderly, children, people with chronic diseases, and people who work at high intensity...

For young children, seasonal flu can cause high fever of 39-40 degrees, fever reducers do not help, upper respiratory tract infection with symptoms of runny nose, cough, sore throat... At peak times, the National Children's Hospital receives up to 150 children with seasonal flu/week, of which more than 50 cases have to be hospitalized, most of them come to the hospital late when they have complications of pneumonia, bronchitis... because parents do not know how to prevent and care for them.

In cases of children with flu and fever, Dr. Do Thien Hai, Deputy Head of the Department of Infectious Diseases, National Children's Hospital, recommends using Paracetamol to reduce fever at home, combined with cleaning the nose and throat with saline. If the child does not have a secondary infection, absolutely do not use antibiotics on your own.

For adults, seasonal flu is not as worrisome or dangerous as A/H5N1 or H7N9 flu, but 1-4% of A/H1N1 flu cases still die, mainly in cases with chronic underlying diseases that are susceptible to secondary infections, severe pneumonia, respiratory failure, and multiple organ failure leading to death.

The world records 250,000-500,000 deaths due to influenza each year. In the southern provinces alone, there have been 4 deaths due to seasonal flu since the beginning of the year.

Habits that make flu spread rapidly

Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Dac Phu, Director of the Department of Preventive Medicine, Ministry of Health, said that influenza is highly contagious and easily transmitted from person to person through the respiratory tract, through droplets of saliva or nasal secretions when a sick person sneezes or coughs.

People can also get the flu virus by touching a contaminated surface or object, touching a used tissue that has the virus on it and then touching their nose, mouth, or eyes. Sharing utensils, drinking glasses, or toothbrushes with someone who is sick can also spread the flu.

People with the flu can spread the disease from 1 day before symptoms begin and up to 7 days after symptoms begin.

However, Associate Professor Phu said that Vietnamese people still do not have the awareness to prevent the flu. When sick, they still go to school, go to work, sit at the same table to eat, and are lazy to wash their hands with soap.

When coughing or sneezing, many people let it out naturally. Some people cover their mouths with their hands, but then wipe their mouths with tissue paper without washing with soap. Then their dirty hands touch other objects, and when other people come into contact with them and bring them to their nose or mouth, they can spread the disease. That is the reason why one person in a family gets the flu and then the other members get the flu one by one.

Associate Professor Phu recommends that when you have the flu, you should wash your hands with soap regularly, avoid touching your eyes and nose as much as possible, cover your mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing; do not spit indiscriminately; use antiseptic solutions for your nose, throat, and eyes every day; and avoid close contact with sick people or people suspected of having the flu.

Regularly clean and wipe surfaces, objects that come into daily contact, and floors with soap or common detergents; open windows to ventilate your home, classroom, or office; eat nutritious foods to prevent flu infection.

In addition, people can get vaccinated against seasonal flu to prevent the disease. Those with high fever and difficulty breathing should proactively isolate themselves, wear masks and go to medical facilities for examination, consultation, treatment and prevention of the spread. Early recognition and detection of signs of the disease can help in timely treatment, minimizing deaths./.