Julia GregoryChannel Islands
Yui Mok/PA Wire
Patients are advised to rest if they succumb to flu and avoid spreading it
Flu can be “seriously bad news” for the vulnerable and can see them hospitalised, a Jersey GP has said.
Dr Ed Klaber, from Health Plus Jersey, said most people “feel a bit rotten” with flu and advised patients to get rest and manage their symptoms, while others with lung problems could become “quite unwell”.
He said the flu vaccine “will protect us and family members and that’s got to be a good thing” adding it was up to individuals to made up their own minds whether to have it or not.
Dr Klaber said there had been “vaccine fatigue” after the Covid-19 pandemic years but GPs were encouraging patients to get vaccinated.
Last year in the island, 30,900 people had the flu vaccine, but a further 11,500 doses were thrown away because people did not come forward.
Dr Klaber advised islanders to have paracetamol and ibuprofen in their medicine cabinet in case flu struck.
Another tip was to make hot squash with soluble paracetamol, or use throat sprays if anyone was suffering from a really sore throat.
If people succumbed to flu, the “main thing is to take it easy”, he said.
Offering more health tips for the new year, Dr Klaber also advised people not to compare themselves to others.
He said people tended to compare the good and bad aspects of themselves with others but “the bit we see of other people is the bit they show us”.
Instead he suggested people being kind to themselves, setting realistic expectations and giving themselves “credit when we deserve it”.
He said: “The criticism you give yourself you would never give anyone else you care about.
“January might be hard, there are going to be days when it is dark and raining and work feels a bind, the sun’s a long way away; but one day at a time and we’ll get through it.”