We all know the signs: that stuffy nose and sore throat that quickly become a fever with chills, nausea, fatigue and body aches. You, or someone in your household, has come down with the flu. Influenza, or seasonal flu, is a highly contagious respiratory illness that affects between 5 and 20 percent of the population of the United States, with 4,000 to 49,000 American deaths each year.

Unlike the common cold, the flu tends to come on quickly and unexpectedly, with severe symptoms that affect the nose, throat, and lungs. While most people who contract the flu will be able to recover at home in under two weeks, using home remedies, about one in four flu sufferers will develop complications, including pneumonia.

Even in households where all relatives are within safe ages and are otherwise healthy, there are steps that you should take when you or a household member has come down with the flu.

Practice Defensive Medicine

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advise that anyone who can should get an annual seasonal flu vaccine, especially those who fall into the high-risk category for developing complications from the virus. Not only can the flu vaccine prevent you and your family members from coming down with the flu, but also if you do happen to contract a strain against which you haven’t been vaccinated, your bout with this disease may be much milder than in someone who hasn’t been vaccinated.

The vaccine is the best line of defense for younger household members and may help keep the flu out of your home if you have a young infant, a relative who is undergoing chemotherapy or who otherwise has a compromised immune system, or if you have an elderly relative in the home or under your care.

There has been no risk associated with pregnant women getting vaccinated against the seasonal flu, and the vaccine has been shown to protect the mother during her pregnancy and may even pass along the immunity to her child for up to six months, until the child is able to get his or her own flu vaccine.