How to Prevent Stomach Flu

Video Transcript

"Hi, I'm Dr. David Hill, and today, we're going to talk about how to prevent the stomach flu. When people use the word "stomach flu," they may be talking about actual viral influenza, but often they're talking about any illness that makes them vomit or has diarrhea associated with it. The best way to present...prevent transmission of these illnesses is careful hand-washing. Now, in most cases, an alcohol hand sanitizer will work as well as, or even better than, soap and water. However, there are some exceptions. First of all, you want to make sure that hand sanitizer has at least 62 to 63 percent alcohol by volume. If it's weaker than that, it may not kill all the germs. Second of all, you want to make sure the alcohol is on your hands for a good 15 seconds. If it's less than 15 seconds, it may not have time to do its work. If your hands are soiled in any way -- say, you've been changing a diaper -- you're going to want to actually wash your hands with soap and water. That's really the only way to get everything off. You'll also be careful if you know that somebody has influenza to avoid airborne transmission. That person or you might wear a mask to protect you from airborne particles if they're sneezing. Again, hand-washing is very important for preventing the transmitting of proper influenza, as well as the other things that we refer to as stomach flu. You want to make sure that whoever has the stomach flu is not the person preparing food in your household. Try and take over that task if you know they are. So preventing stomach flu: Hand-washing with soap and water -- doesn't have to be antibacterial soap -- using a 63 percent or higher alcohol solution for at least 15 seconds, staying away from contaminated food or people, and trying not to actually catch influenza itself. Talking about how not to get the stomach flu, I'm Dr. David Hill."