Flu Etiquette Dos and Don’ts: What You Need to Know About Sickness and Health

Whether it’s winter flu season or summer cold season, it’s not unusual to notice a lot of coughing, sneezing, and sniffling in your office, at your child’s school, or at the mall. That means a greater likelihood of you getting sneezed on while in line at the post office and catching an illness you’d rather not have.

Here Anna Post, great-great-granddaughter of etiquette expert Emily Post and a coauthor of Emily Post’s Etiquette, 18th Edition: Manners for a New World, discusses how to deal with sick people in public, making sure your kids stay as germ-free as possible, and common flu misconceptions.

Everyday Health: How do you deal with people around you who are obviously sick and not being polite about it in public or at work?

Anna Post: There’s definitely room for improvement in this category. There’s everything from being stuck next to someone on a plane who doesn’t cover their mouth when they cough, to kids going to school when they’re sick and spreading germs around, to a coworker who comes in feeling miserable and potentially infects the whole team.

If it’s someone you know, it’s best to say, with care and concern in your voice, something like: “You don’t look so hot, this could be the flu. You should probably go home or see a doctor.” That’s an okay thing to do. Same thing if I’m going out with friends someplace and someone shows up sick. No one really likes that. They’ll understand you’re not doing it to be rude, but rather you just want them to take care of themselves and the people they’re around.

It can be trickier with strangers. If you’re stuck next to someone in a line or a waiting room and you can’t remove yourself from the situation, it’s polite to ask if they would please mind covering their cough. Keep it in a neutral tone and short and sweet. You can also help make the situation easier by traveling with a little pocket tissue and hand sanitizer and offering it to the person. That can help them be a little more mindful of where they’re coughing and sneezing.

EH: What are the best cold and flu etiquette tips for parents to pass along to their kids?

AP: It’s best to teach them how to cover up their cough or sneeze. One trick in making sure they bring their elbow up towards their mouth is to tell them to act like Dracula drawing up his cape. It makes it fun, while also modeling behavior you want them to have.

When you talk about hand-washing, tell younger kids to sing the ABCs while they’re doing it. It makes sure they’re getting rid of most of the germs.

It’s also important for parents to keep their kids home if they’re sick. Flu especially is so contagious. If there’s a child over your house for a playdate and they look like they’re sick, it’s best for them and your own child if they’re picked up by a parent.

EH: What are some common misconceptions about colds and the flu?

AP: Many people don’t realize the flu is contagious before symptoms start. A survey done by the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases revealed that 41 percent of people think the flu is only contagious after symptoms start.

The same survey showed that 45 percent of people think the flu vaccine can give them the flu. This isn’t true: According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) getting an annual flu shot is the No. 1 step you can take to reduce your chances of getting the flu and spreading it to others.