Keeping your family healthy during flu season is always a concern, but it's even more relevant this year due to swine flu. Make sure your family stays healthy with this practical information.

Prevention

Wash Your Hands. Make sure your kids wash their hands when they come home from school and especially before meals. Get fun soap in different colors or make it a game if your kids protest. Also, it never hurts to have hand sanitizer handy.

Avoid Touching Your Face. Encourage your kids not to touch their face, particularly their eyes, nose, or mouth. (Yes, we know we may be asking you to do the impossible here.)

Cover Your Cough. Teach your kids to sneeze or cough into the crook of their elbow. Dad, you play an important part in modeling all of these helpful behaviors for your child.

Avoid Other Sick Individuals.If your daughter's best friend is sick, no matter what kind of tantrum she throws, you need to cancel the sleepover. Don't go into hiding, but if your children's friends are sick, they can wait a few days or a week to play together.

Treating the Flu

Stay Home and Get Rest. Pop in everyone's favorite movie and relax. Additionally, the CDC recommends that you stay home for 24 hours after your fever is gone in order to not infect others.

Stay Hydrated. Water, broth, and drinks like gatorade are best.

Know When To Seek Emergency Medical Care. Warning signs include: Fast breathing or trouble breathing; bluish or gray skin color; signs of dehydration such as dizziness when standing, absence of urination, or in infants, a lack of tears when crying; severe or persistent vomiting, inability to wake up or interact; flu-like symptoms that improve, but then return with a fever and worse cough.

Treating and preventing the swine flu is very similar to treating and preventing the regular flu. Wash hands, cover coughs, and don't forget your flu shot!

Information for this Dad E-mail was adapted from the CDC.