La Grippe is on the go…
Enfin, pour éviter de tomber malade, de nombreux petits gestes peuvent vous éviter d’être contaminé par le virus de la grippe : se laver les mains régulièrement, avec du savon ou une solution hydro alcoolique, et bien entendu limiter les contacts avec les personnes malades; aérer votre logement chaque jour pour en renouveler l’air peut aussi vous éviter une infection. Pour ceux qui sont déjà malades, porter un masque permet d’éviter de transmettre le virus.
Have the jab!
When we have been to the supermarket we always use a gel handwash and wash again when we come home.
Supermarket trolley handles are the worst for passing on bugs.
This does not prevent any airborne infections of course.
One of our friends was in bed with 'flu over Christmas.
When I asked her if she had been vaccinated, she said no.
Her brother is one of the local doctors!
Well I’ve had my hands on a supermarket trolley every week for countless years in uk and coming up 3 years here in Brittany and I’ve never had the flu despite never having had a flu vaccine…
My niece, who is a midwife, delivered a baby the other day who’s mum wasn’t well and ended up in A&E herself on Saturday night with really bad flu
Had your niece had the flu vaccine…???
I don’t know
Having the Jab, is supposed to avoid/reduce the nasty Flu that is doing the rounds in a particular year.
However, this is not 100%… and there are all sorts of Flu… all we can do is take the best precautions… according to our situation/desires.
The hand-gel stuff is usually in the car for if we are caught-short in “dodgy” circumstances and we have a spare loo roll hidden in the boot… shades of my murky past “be prepared”. 
(but soap not gel at home)
We do cut back a little on the kissing bit in Winter. Here folk do not exchange noisy “air kisses” … it’s the real thing, albeit on the cheek…
It’s the one time of the year that my “waving and blowing kisses to the world in general” is acceptable… other times I have to do the rounds… and it can take ages… 
Good Hygiene…can save us from a multitude of bugs/viruses/whatever…
I caught mine from being in the same supermarket aisle as someone who was coughing and sneezing !
I don’t qualify for the flu vaccine but even if I did I wouldn’t take it. There are so many different strains around that I don’t believe it can be really effective.
Mum, who does qualify, at 87 years young doesn’t take it either, after being really ill some years ago after receiving the vaccination. Her doctor has also said that the vaccination can, and does cause some people problems.
Like Stella, I too avoid the hugs and kisses during Winter, that generally abound !
I see folk with their scarves covering mouth & nose… and that seems like a good idea when in a somewhat confined public place… so many folk cough/sneeze without seeming to make any effort at controlling/containing the “spray”.
We were taught to have a hanky ready… but, even so, a sneeze or coughing fit can take one unawares…in which case one or both hands clasped firmly over nose and/or mouth can contain the germs …
Sadly, most of the folk I see are coughing and sneezing all over the place. They obviously did not “go to the same school”
The trick is not to accept a generic US vaccine but to ask for a local French one and not to get the jab too soon so that it’s as close to this years dominant strain as possible. I got mine in December and despite quite a few family and friends being floored over that last four weeks or so I’m (touch wood) fighting fit.
It seems to be working OK for us too… I’ve just had a sniffly throat these last few days… but that has gone now… (OH reckoned I sounded rather sexy 
)… but some folk are in a bad way.
I must admit I had not thought about which vaccine we get. I shall discuss with our pharmacist and see how it works here… I would not want us taking an “inferior” vaccine. Well, for me, not so important… but for OH it might kill him…
My GP tipped me off on the timing and the source. But we’re pals so maybe it’s not common advice, he’s actually trying to keep me alive 