Government re-issues flu advice
The Government has relaunched its Catch it, Bin it, Kill it campaign as the number of people suffering from flu continues to rise.
The campaign was originally launched in 2007 and advises people to catch their coughs and sneezes in a tissue, then wash their hands in a bid to curb the spread of illnesses.
Latest UK figures from the Health Protection Agency issued on January 13 confirmed a further 62 deaths from flu during the holiday season, bringing the total to 112 since the flu season began in October.
Professor John Watson, head of the respiratory diseases department at the HPA, said: "Our latest flu report suggests levels of people seeing their doctor for flu-like illness is beginning to plateau but this may be skewed by the recent holiday period.
"Flu is still circulating in the community and the message remains that those people in an at-risk group should have their seasonal flu vaccine as soon as possible as this is the best way to protect themselves from flu this winter.
"It is important that people do all they can to reduce the spread of the virus by maintaining good cough and hand hygiene, such as covering your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough and sneeze, disposing of the tissue as soon as possible and cleaning your hands as soon you can.
These are all important actions that can help prevent the spread of germs and reduce the risk of flu transmission."
• A Hygiene Matters study carried out by Tork manufacturer SCA in 2010 revealed that eight out of 10 people in the UK were washing their hands more frequently as a direct result of swine flu. Studies show that hand drying is vital to prevent the spread of viruses and infections since damp hands spread 1,000 times more bacteria than dry hands. Paper hand towels are now widely regarded to be the most hygienic method of drying the hands.
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