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COPYRIGHT 2006 CMP Information Ltd.
The 'sniffle season' will soon be upon us, with millions of Britons coughing and spluttering their way to work over the winter months. Dr Richard Dawood dispels some myths about the flu jab and explains why occupational vaccination programmes are becoming a shot in the arm for companies looking to safeguard the health of their employees and maintain organisational effectiveness.
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ACCORDING TO THE CONFEDERATION of British Industry, workplace absence costs British employers [pounds sterling]12 billion a year and a huge percentage of those absences is attributable to colds and flu, with the latter affecting up to 30 per cent of the population every year. (1) How would any business cope with a third of its staff absent at one time, not to mention the additional number of parents or carers unable to come into work because they have to care for sick children, or other dependants who have succumbed to the flu? If reports of an impending flu pandemic are to be believed, with even the Mayor of London stockpiling [pounds sterling]1m of anti-viral drugs to keep the capital running in case of an outbreak, (2) the influence of influenza on the global economy is not something to be sneezed at.
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Bit of a sniffle?
Influenza is a totally different beast to 'just a cold'. It is a highly infectious disease caused by influenza viruses, of which there are three types: A, B and C. Influenza A and B viruses cause virtually all of the clinical illness, while the symptoms of influenza C are usually mild. Flu occurs...
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