“You have friends over for a Super Bowl party. You all go out to a bar to watch the game. A bunch of people are cramped in a small space, and they’re all touching the same napkins and grabbing the same chips. If your team wins, you’re all out in the street celebrating. It’s that kind of disease transmission that we think might be a driving factor,” he explained.
Even though seniors may not be as likely to socialize during the Super Bowl, their chances of coming into contact with someone who had the flu rise as infection rates increase in the overall population, according to Sanders.
“It needn’t be a direct leap, where an older person is at a bar watching the team. It could be that individual’s relative is at a bar and then he visits his parents. Or a worker at a retirement home goes out to get a drink and celebrate her team’s win, and then returns to work the next day. Those are all possible disease transmissions,” he said.
The researchers emphasized that everyone needs to take flu prevention measures at all times, not just on Super Bowl Sunday. These include: washing your hands, not sharing food or drinks, and staying home if you are sick.
“Simply being aware of the situation can make people take common-sense precautions, and say, ‘Well, I’m not going to shove my hand in that bowl of nuts over there.’ I think that’s just good advice in general,” Sanders said.
This year’s flu season has been relatively mild so far, according to federal health officials, but they expect activity to pick up in the coming weeks.
Copyright © 2015 HealthDay
