Cold or Flu symptoms?

January 21, 2019

Do you know the difference between cold and flu symptoms?  There are lot of different viruses around at the moment with the common misconception that they are all flu viruses.

The flu vaccine will not protect against cold viruses, but does protect against flu A and B. It’s well recognised that flu vaccine is not 100 per cent effective however the vaccine reduces the risk of contracting the flu by approximately 50 to 60 per cent and if you get flu, the symptoms are much milder and attenuated. It’s the only available protection against flu.

The flu vaccine is still available through occupational health by calling ext. 3306. The vaccine takes 10-14 days to work, so it is important you have it as soon as you can.

If you have flu like symptoms it is important that if you are working that you go home. The Trust does not routinely swab staff if they have symptoms and you must not swab yourself.

If you need further advice you can contact occupational health on ext. 3306.