Preventing the Flu

Flu Mist  

The 2013 flu season has begun. MCPS staff and students are asked to use simple preventative measures—including hand-washing and coughing etiquette—as a way to keep themselves healthy and prevent the spread of flu and other seasonal illnesses. More information is available below.

School vaccination clinics for students were held in November. Contact your health professional for more information about current flu vaccine availability.

How You Can Prevent the Flu

  1. Get vaccinated
    • Vaccination is the BEST protection
    • Get the seasonal flu vaccine – everyone should be vaccinated
  2. Practice good hygiene
    • Wash hands frequently with soap and water
    • Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth
    • Cover your mouth and nose with tissue when you cough or sneeze
    • Cough or sneeze into your upper sleeve if you don’t have a tissue
    • Put used tissues into a waste basket right away
    • Clean your hands after coughing or sneezing. Use soap and water or hand sanitizer.
  3. If you or a family member gets the flu
    • Stay home from work or school if you have flu-like symptoms (fever of 100 degrees or greater with a cough or sore throat)
    • Children should be fever-free for 24 hours before returning to school
    • Follow your doctor’s orders
    • Avoid close contact with others, especially anyone who is sick
    • Get plenty of rest
    • Drink clear fluids
    • Avoid using alcohol or tobacco
    • Cover coughs and sneezes
    • Clean hands with soap and water or sanitizer

Other Seasonal Flu Vaccination Information

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Fact Sheets 

Flu Vaccination Consent Forms

In order for your child to receive a vaccination at a Montgomery County clinic, parents and guardians must complete and sign a Consent Form, available in multiple languages below.

School-based Flu Vaccination Clinic Dates

School-based Flu Vaccination Clinic Dates 

On Monday, November 5, 2012, DHHS will hold vaccination clinics to administer nasal spray flu vaccine (FluMist) for school-aged children only at:

  • John F. Kennedy High School
    1901 Randolph Rd.
    Silver Spring, Md. 20902
  • Richard Montgomery High School
    250 Richard Montgomery Dr.
    Rockville, Md. 20852
  • Seneca Valley High School
    19401 Crystal Rock Dr.
    Germantown, Md. 20874

The clinics are scheduled from 9 a.m. to 12 noon.

Parents or guardians must make appointments for their child to receive a vaccination at these clinics either online or by calling 311.

On Monday, November 12 and Tuesday November 13, 2012, DHHS will conduct flu vaccination clinics in all MCPS elementary schools. School Health Services Nurses and School Health Room Aides will administer nasal spray flu vaccine (FluMist).

Vaccinations will be given only to those children enrolled in the elementary schools where the clinic is held. Parents must sign up for appointments by contacting the school’s health room. The two-hour clinics will begin 30 minutes after students are dismissed for the day.

Flu clinic schedule 

Seasonal Flu Vaccination Information

For information on other seasonal flu vaccine clinics in Montgomery County and to make an appointment, check the county’s flu website or call 311.