Keeping Yourself Healthy This Winter:

Get ready for flu season – protect your whānau and community
Colder weather also brings along a nasty passenger – the flu and other bugs.  Please remember to keep your children at home if they are not feeling well.  Lets use our logical thinking skills to keep everyone well this winter.
As you may have seen in the media, it’s shaping up to be a tough flu season, with flu already
circulating widely across New Zealand, and Australia reporting a record number of flu cases and even
deaths.  
Influenza infection rates are generally highest in children, and healthy children are the major cause
of the spread of the virus in the community. You can spread the flu bug without knowing you have it
– and the elderly, pregnant women and people with chronic health conditions are particularly
vulnerable.     
Canterbury District Health Board is urging you to protect your whānau and the wider community by
getting your flu shot as soon as possible. Getting your flu shot every year offers the best protection
against the flu.
Flu shots are available for anyone for a fee from a doctor, nurse or some pharmacists or you or your
whānau may qualify for a free shot – check out www.flufree.co.nz for more information and flu
facts.