LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) - Visiting Grandma for the holidays? What about those little cousins? Did you get your flu shot? Did they?
Flu season is officially in full swing with nearly 4 million cases nationwide and more than 2,000 in Kentucky.
So far there have been 19 deaths; six of those have been in Kentucky.
Before Christmas dinner, Dr. Katrina Hood, a pediatrician at Pediatric and Adolescent Associates, said there are a few things to consider.
"Before you eat a meal before you touch anything; before you go after the appetizers, pick up some hand sanitizer. Or best better yet is just hand washing, and really thoroughly hand washing between all the fingers and doing that for the whole singing of the Happy Birthday song," she said.
When hosting, Dr. Hood suggested a second set of rules.
She explained, "Make sure you wash down all faucets, all of the doors on the refrigerator, the doorknobs coming into the house frequently, because it's those places where people aren't always with clean hands and that's how we're going to spread it."
Despite active prevention, there is a high likelihood someone will still end up sick.
Dr. Hood said everyone has a responsibility if they catch something after the family gathering.
She explained, "If you find out you are sick with something after the holidays is to notify all those people so they kind of know if you've been sick, that maybe that happened, so that we can know that up front as well."
