Flu Prevention In Schools And The Workplace: Are You Doing The Right Things To Protect Your Students And Staff?

March 27, 2018 Leave a Comment

A recent report by CNN on March 2nd, 2018, states the worst part of the 2017/18 flu season is over. According to the report, only 5% of people visiting a doctor for the week ending March 3rd reported flu symptoms. This was down from 6.5% the previous week. However, the report also indicated this doesn't mean it's no longer necessary to take precautions. Neglecting to practice healthy habits when it comes to preventing the spread of the flu virus could give it a new life. In fact, flu prevention measures in schools and the workplace are important to practice until the risk of contracting the influenza virus is minimized. Are you doing everything you can do to help prevent the spread of influenza, or are you still using methods that may not be effective?

How Do You Get the Influenza Virus?Getting the flu is easy. That's what makes it so important that we take all the necessary precautions to do our part in helping to prevent the spread of the virus. The flu virus is airborne and can be contracted if you stand next to someone who coughs. It can also be contracted if you touch a surface someone with the virus has touched. Books, door handles, the handles of shopping carts, toilet seats, and any other solid object can hold the flu virus and other bacteria. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the flu virus can be active on surfaces for as long as 24 hours. Even if you aren't showing flu symptoms, you can have the virus and transmit it to others. With the increase in number of those contracting the disease this flu season, the odds you will come into contact with the virus are pretty high. As a business owner, manager, school superintendent, or any decision maker, it's crucial you make a decision to help prevent the spread of the flu virus by taking as many precautions as you can and by ensuring your work space is as clean and sanitized as it can be.

Dangers of the Contracting the FluIt's hard for some people to grasp the severity of the flu. The flu virus is ever changing and becomes more resistant to the flu vaccine many people rely on every year. The adaptive ability of the influenza virus is the reason the flu gets harder to combat each year, and contracting the flu no longer guarantees you'll feel bad for a couple of weeks and then get better. At its worst, the 2017/18 flu season has claimed up to 4,000 lives a week. Anyone can contract the flu and die, but those most vulnerable include adults over 65, children 5 and younger, and pregnant women. While most people recover from the flu within one or two weeks, many die as a result of a secondary infection from leftover bacteria. The flu can also complicate other health issues and lead to death. People with bronchitis, asthma, pneumonia, and upper-respiratory issues are at a high risk.

How to Clean, Sanitize and Disinfect to Avoid Spreading the FluWith serious health issues and the high risk of death, keeping our schools, workplaces, and public access areas as clean and sanitized as possible should be an essential part of our lives during flu season. The trouble is, many traditional cleaning and sanitizing methods simply aren't effective, or they are too time consuming and often neglected for lack of time or resources. Many smaller companies don't have the time or the employees to keep the workplace sufficiently clean and sanitized. Some schools use cleaning products designed for cleaning but not acceptable for serious disinfecting. That's the reason it's important to review the cleaning procedures at your business, in our schools, or anywhere else people congregate. This includes banks, churches, shopping malls, movie theaters, and restrooms. These places are a hotbed of germs and need to be cleaned and sanitized often. Unfortunately, using cleaning towels and store-bought cleaner make the task time consuming and difficult to do effectively.

More Efficient Cleaning, Sanitizing and Disinfecting MethodsWhile traditional methods of cleaning, sanitizing and disinfecting may work some of the time, unless you have the time and the right products, you may not be getting the most reliable results. Here at GenEon, we are devoted to preventing the spread of viruses while keeping the environment safe. We've developed an easy-to-use system to help you keep your workplace clean and germ free, and we offer a range of safe and effective cleaning solutions that are toxic-free and eco-friendly. Used in conjunction with our cutting-edge delivery systems, these cleaning, sanitizing and disinfecting solutions are an effective and efficient way to clean, sanitize, and disinfect homes, schools, medical facilities, and any public access area, both large and small.



The GenEon cleaning, sanitizing and disinfecting products save users time and make it easier to be more effective when it comes to cleaning, sanitizing, and disinfecting their businesses. Schools and businesses in Texas, Montana, Illinois, and other states have already been using our technology successfully. At Sunray schools, an average of 70 to 75 students a day were absent from school due to the flu. The school closed its doors and used the GenEon technology to clean, disinfect, and sanitize the entire school (click here for full ABC News Report). Those who took part in the process praised our unique solutions and the benefits of using a product that does the job safely and efficiently.

Our cleaning solutions are created by consumers using on-site generation technology. Consumers create the cleaning solutions using natural minerals, water, electricity, and our on-site generation technology. Our cleaning solutions use natural renewable resources recognized by the CDC as environmentally safe, and because consumers generate their cleaning solutions as they need them, the need for transportation and storage of toxic chemicals is no longer necessary.

One of our solution delivery systems is ideal for large, open spaces, including schools, banks, hospitals, grocery stores, and other public areas. The mist sprayer/blower system is portable and easy to use with our cleaning and disinfecting solutions. In schools using this system, administrators were happy to announce how quickly they were able clean and sanitize their schools with the mist system, allowing them to bring students back to class in record time.

Best Practices for Flu Prevention in Schools and the WorkplaceAs we have already established, the 2017/18 flu season has had devastating effects on the public, particularly in the younger and older age groups and on those with other health concerns. The flu no longer means simply having a fever, feeling sick to your stomach, or vomiting. According to the CDC, this year's flu season has killed at least 646,000 people across the U.S. That figure is staggering and should be highly alarming to all of us. This means the flu is no longer a simple illness. It's a devastating killer.

With such deadly consequences possible when we aren't properly protecting schools, banks, restaurants, shopping centers, and other public businesses, it's extremely important the precautions we take to fight the flu are above and beyond what used to work. Traditional cleaning methods are spotty at best, and because doing the cleaning with traditional cleaning solutions takes so much time and manpower, many larger schools and businesses aren't doing it thoroughly enough for it to be effective.

New methods, like our chemical-free cleaning, sanitizing, and disinfecting solutions and systems, make the whole process of keeping the flu and other germs away from the public easier. These cleaning technologies are more effective, which means less spread of the flu virus and a decrease in the number of cases in your school or workplace. Products like our mineral electrolyte are ideal for schools because they allow you to make cleaning solutions on site, only as needed.


Community action is one of the most effective ways to control the spread of the flu virus. While there is no way to eliminate the threat entirely, if every community across the country made an effort, the spread of the flu could be cut down drastically, making it less of a threat. Here are some of the ways a community can work together.

• Town meetings

Petition your local government for regular town meetings to discuss ways to keep local schools and businesses more aware of the dangers of the flu and discuss ways to help prevent the spread of the virus.


• Regular and effective cleaning, sanitizing and disinfecting

Work as a community to ensure that local schools and businesses are doing everything they can to help eliminate the flu by keeping public access areas clean and sanitized.


• Visit schools

If you are a parent, don't be afraid to visit your local school and ask what they are doing to help prevent the spread of influenza.


• Stay home

If your child is sick, keep them out of school. If you have the flu, don't go to work. Containing the virus and cleaning and sanitizing your home after you get better will help keep the flu virus contained.


• Raise awareness through public forums

Share any valuable information about the flu on social media. Ask schools to include safety tips and precautions in their newsletters or to send notes home with students reporting on the flu situation in their district. Many schools already do this, but not all. It's important to keep open lines of communication in the community.


• Get a flu shot

The effectiveness of the flu shot for the 2017/18 flu season has not been good, but most doctors still insist getting the shot is better than not getting it. Think of it as just one more layer of protection.

Awareness, precautions, proper hygiene, and cleaning are key to fighting the flu virus and cutting back on the spread of the bacteria that causes it. As the flu virus evolves each year and becomes stronger and more resistant to the flu vaccine, it becomes more crucial that we do everything we can. Regardless of the methods used, it's important that business owners take precautions and that schools do all they can to keep our kids as safe as possible. The flu is not to be taken lightly. It can lead to death. Proper cleaning and sanitizing can eliminate much of the risk, creating cleaner, healthier living for everyone.

Positive changes and new ways to clean, sanitize, and disinfect can make all the difference when the next flu season rolls around. We can work together to make communities across the country more aware of the flu virus and how it operates, which in turn leads more success in keeping the flu out of our schools, the workplace, and any other area where the virus is easily transmitted.

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