Home quarantine on H1N1! What should you do?

While at home, one is advised to observe the following measures:
Home self-care - If fever is uncomfortable, take paracetamol at standard recommended doses;
- Lowering the fever will not make your illness go away faster, but it may make you more comfortable. Follow instructions on the label. Talk to your healthcare provider about what product to use, dosage, possible side effects, and conditions when you should not use the remedy;
- Get adequate rest. Bed rest can help you feel better;
- Drink plenty of fluids (such as water, broth, sports drinks, juice, soup) to keep from being dehydrated;
- Be watchful for emergency warning signs (refer to home monitoring tool*) which will indicate that you need to seek medical attention;
If possible, consideration should be given to maintaining good ventilation in shared household areas (e.g. keeping windows open in living room, kitchen, bathroom etc.)
Patient Advice for Infection Control at Home:
- Practise Cough Etiquette - Cover mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing with tissues and clean hands with soap and water or an alcohol-based hand rub after that. Used tissues should be disposed appropriately in disposal bins.
- Improve Personal Hygiene for All - Everyone in the household must clean their hands often, using soap and water or an alcohol-based hand rub.
Use paper towels for drying hands after hand washing or dedicate cloth towels to each person in the household. Clean commonly used utensils or frequently touched surfaces regularly with household detergents.
- Do not share personal utensils - Linen, eating utensils and dishes belonging to those who are sick do not need to be cleaned separately, but importantly these items should not be shared without washing thoroughly first. Used linen, eating utensils should be washed with water and soap.
- Social Distancing - Persons with flu are advised not to leave their home when they have fever or during the time they are most likely to spread their infection to others. (Patients are likely to spread the virus from one day before they develop symptoms to up to seven days after they get sick.)
It is preferable for the sick individual to stay in a room separate from other household members, whenever possible. Household contacts especially those who have co-morbidities (including pregnant women) are advised to stay at least one meter away from the patient whenever possible.
If a person with the flu needs to leave the home (e.g. for medical care), they should wear a surgical mask and practise cough etiquette and good hygiene.
*Patient Home Assessment Tool:
- Seek medical care should you develop any of the symptoms and signs as listed:-
- Respiratory difficulty - shortness of breath, rapid breathing or purple or blue discolouration of lips
- Coughing out blood or blood-streaked sputum
- Persistent chest pain
- Persistent diarrhoea and/or vomiting
- Fever persisting beyond three days or recurring after three days
- Abnormal behaviour, confusion, less responsive, convulsion
- Dizziness when standing
- Reduced urine production.