Flu advice
The Department of Health (DoH) has launched a campaign to get people used to the idea of practising better hygiene as a way of reducing the number of respiratory infections.
It's hoped the move will also help combat a potential flu epidemic if the current global outbreaks of avian flu mutate into a strain that can be passed from human to human.
The campaign is called Catch it, Bin it, Kill it. It aims to encourage the public to practise correct respiratory and hand hygiene when coughing and sneezing, and to change current behaviour to prevent the spread of viruses - particularly during the colds and flu season.
"Covering your mouth and nose with a tissue when you cough and sneeze, disposing of the tissue as soon as possible, and cleaning your hands as soon as you can are important actions that can help prevent the spread of germs.
?Research has revealed that people don?t understand what a huge difference practising personal hygiene can make in helping prevent the spread of the common cold - and the more serious, potentially life-threatening influenza - if a pandemic resulted from a mutation of the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu.?
Running until the spring of next year, the campaign includes advertising on buses, trains and the London Underground; posters in shopping centres; and screen savers. Posters are also being distributed to GPs' surgeries, hospital and community pharmacists, accident and emergency departments, libraries and police stations.
The campaign has three messages:
Catch It ? germs spread easily, so always carry tissues and use them to catch your cough or sneeze
Bin It ? germs can live for several hours on tissues, so dispose of them as soon as possible
Kill It ? hands can transfer germs to any surface you touch, so clean them as soon as you can.
The UK?s national director of pandemic influenza preparedness Professor Lindsey Davies said: If we all follow the three simple rules of Catch It, Bin It, Kill It, the spread of colds, flu and similar illnesses could be reduced. We all have an important role in preventing ourselves, our families and others spreading germs.?
Everyone should follow our existing guidance on minimising contact with live birds and maintaining good personal hygiene ? the most effective way of defending themselves against the risk of infection.?
People are advised to:
avoid contact with live poultry and wild birds
avoid contact with surfaces or water contaminated by animal faeces
not eat or handle under-cooked or raw poultry, egg or duck dishes
exercise good personal hygiene, with frequent hand-washing
not attempt to take any live poultry products across national boundaries.
?There is no firm evidence that H5N1 has acquired the ability to pass easily from person to person. Almost all cases of human infection have been linked to close contact with diseased birds. However, concerns remain that the virus might develop this ability, or that it might mix with human flu viruses to create a new virus.
"The current situation is categorised at phase three ? a virus new to humans is causing infections but does not spread easily from one person to another.?
In China the father of a man who recently died from the H5N1 strain has also died from it but the WHO has not changed its alert status.
The severe H5N1 form of avian flu has affected poultry flocks and other birds in various countries since 2003.
As of 9 December, 74 people have also caught the infection this year, and there have been 49 deaths, as a result of close and direct contact with infected birds ? bringing the total since 2003 to 207. It is this ability of avian flu to change and to mix that has given rise to the fear of a new human flu pandemic.
It's hoped the move will also help combat a potential flu epidemic if the current global outbreaks of avian flu mutate into a strain that can be passed from human to human.
The campaign is called Catch it, Bin it, Kill it. It aims to encourage the public to practise correct respiratory and hand hygiene when coughing and sneezing, and to change current behaviour to prevent the spread of viruses - particularly during the colds and flu season.
"Covering your mouth and nose with a tissue when you cough and sneeze, disposing of the tissue as soon as possible, and cleaning your hands as soon as you can are important actions that can help prevent the spread of germs.
?Research has revealed that people don?t understand what a huge difference practising personal hygiene can make in helping prevent the spread of the common cold - and the more serious, potentially life-threatening influenza - if a pandemic resulted from a mutation of the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu.?
Running until the spring of next year, the campaign includes advertising on buses, trains and the London Underground; posters in shopping centres; and screen savers. Posters are also being distributed to GPs' surgeries, hospital and community pharmacists, accident and emergency departments, libraries and police stations.
The campaign has three messages:
Catch It ? germs spread easily, so always carry tissues and use them to catch your cough or sneeze
Bin It ? germs can live for several hours on tissues, so dispose of them as soon as possible
Kill It ? hands can transfer germs to any surface you touch, so clean them as soon as you can.
The UK?s national director of pandemic influenza preparedness Professor Lindsey Davies said: If we all follow the three simple rules of Catch It, Bin It, Kill It, the spread of colds, flu and similar illnesses could be reduced. We all have an important role in preventing ourselves, our families and others spreading germs.?
Everyone should follow our existing guidance on minimising contact with live birds and maintaining good personal hygiene ? the most effective way of defending themselves against the risk of infection.?
People are advised to:
avoid contact with live poultry and wild birds
avoid contact with surfaces or water contaminated by animal faeces
not eat or handle under-cooked or raw poultry, egg or duck dishes
exercise good personal hygiene, with frequent hand-washing
not attempt to take any live poultry products across national boundaries.
?There is no firm evidence that H5N1 has acquired the ability to pass easily from person to person. Almost all cases of human infection have been linked to close contact with diseased birds. However, concerns remain that the virus might develop this ability, or that it might mix with human flu viruses to create a new virus.
"The current situation is categorised at phase three ? a virus new to humans is causing infections but does not spread easily from one person to another.?
In China the father of a man who recently died from the H5N1 strain has also died from it but the WHO has not changed its alert status.
The severe H5N1 form of avian flu has affected poultry flocks and other birds in various countries since 2003.
As of 9 December, 74 people have also caught the infection this year, and there have been 49 deaths, as a result of close and direct contact with infected birds ? bringing the total since 2003 to 207. It is this ability of avian flu to change and to mix that has given rise to the fear of a new human flu pandemic.