First, individuals should be sure they are not members of a high-risk group that is more susceptible to getting severe flu symptoms. Check with your physician if you are unsure if you are a higher risk person. Home care is recommended by the CDC if a person is normally healthy with no underlying diseases or conditions (for example, lung disease, asthma, pregnant, or immunosuppressed).
Increasing liquid intake, warm compresses and warm showers, especially in the nasal area, can reduce the body aches and reduce nasal congestion. Nasal strips and humidifiers may help reduce congestion, especially while trying to sleep.
Some physicians recommend nasal irrigation with saline to further reduces congestion; some recommend nonprescription decongestants. Fever can be treated with over-the counter acetaminophen (Tylenol) or ibuprofen (Motrin and others) (read labels for safe dosage). Cough can be suppressed by cough drops and over-the-counter cough syrup. If an individual’s symptoms at home get worse, their doctor should be notified.
Much of the illness and death caused by flu can be prevented by annual influenza vaccination. Flu vaccine is specifically recommended for those who are at high risk for developing serious complications as a result of influenza infection. These high-risk groups for conventional flu include all people aged 65 years or older and people of any age with chronic diseases of the heart, diabetes; lung, or kidneys; immunosuppression; or severe forms of anemia.
However, with the novel H1N1 flu, the CDC has listed these groups listed below as being at high risk and should obtain the novel H1N1 vaccine as soon as it is available to them:
people who live with or care for children younger than 6 months of age; pregnant women; people between the ages of 6 months through 24 years of age and children 5-18 years of age who have chronic medical problems; health-care and emergency-services personnel; people from 25-64 years of age who are at higher risk for novel H1N1 because of chronic health disorders or compromised immune systems.
Other groups for whom conventional flu vaccine is specifically recommended are residents of nursing homes and other chronic care facilities housing patients of any age with chronic medical conditions and children and teenagers who are receiving long-term aspirin therapy and who may therefore be at risk for developing Reye Syndrome after an influenza virus infection. Flu vaccine is also recommended for people who are in close or frequent contact with anyone in the high-risk groups defined above.
These people include health-care personnel and volunteers who work with high-risk patients and people who live in a household with a high-risk person. (read more about flu here.)