• Check with your health-care provider. (If you have influenza, your doctor may prescribe antiviral medications for you.)
• Try to minimize contact with your infant as much as possible.
• Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when sneezing or coughing, and put your used tissue in a waste basket.
• Wash your hands or use an alcohol-based hand rub frequently and as soon as possible if you have sneezed or coughed on your hands.
• Before engaging in any activity within 3-6 feet of your infant (including feeding, changing, rocking, reading to your child), put on a surgical mask (available in most drugstores) and thoroughly wash and dry your hands. (Information about hand hygiene can be found at: http://www.cdc.gov/flu/protect/stopgerms.htm#GoodHealthHabits.) Do not remove your surgical mask until you are done and you have put your infant down.
• Take these precautions for the first 5-7 days of your illness (beginning the first day you notice symptoms).

3.) Be Watchful

Observe your infant closely for symptoms of respiratory illness. If your child develops a fever (100°F or higher under the arm, 101°F orally, or 102°F rectally), respiratory symptoms, or is less responsive than normal, contact your child’s doctor.

• Page last updated October 26, 2006

current mood: worried