Cold, Flu, & Cough Health Center

New Swine Flu Guidelines for Colleges, Work

Managing Swine Flu at Work continued...

Here are some of the CDC's other swine flu tips for businesses and employers:

• Expect sick employees to be out for three to five days, even if they're taking antiviral drugs.
• If an employee gets sick during the day, isolate them from other workers and send them home promptly.
• Don't require a doctor's note to allow recovered employees to come back to work.
• Provide soap and water and alcohol-based hand sanitizers in the workplace.
• Place posters in the work site that encourage employees to wash their hands often and to cover their coughs and sneezes with a tissue or sleeve.
• Frequently clean surfaces and items that are likely to be touched frequently, including work stations, doorknobs, and countertops.
• Encourage employees to get vaccinated against seasonal influenza and to get the swine flu vaccine when it becomes available.

The CDC also encourages seasonal flu vaccination -- and swine flu vaccination, when the H1N1 vaccine becomes available -- for students and workers. Colleges, universities, and businesses should also plan how they would handle swine flu if it gets a lot worse than it is right now, according to the CDC.