Days before Halloween, Ohio’s top doctor asked parents with children going trick-or-treating this week to use “common-sense” to protect them from exposure to H1N1.

Ohio Department of Health Director Dr. Alvin D. Jackson said today, Oct. 28, children with fevers should stay home and those going door to door, should keep their distance from people with flu-like symptoms.

“Stay about six feet away from people who are coughing or sneezing as flu is thought to spread through the air by sick people who are coughing or sneezing,” Jackson said.

The vaccination is the best way to guard against the flu, commonly called swine flu, he said.

Due to the limited supply, parents and children should use the following basic precaution to protect themselves:

• Wash your hands frequently; alcohol-based hand sanitizers are effective if soap and water are not available.

• Cover your coughs and sneezes with a tissue, or cough or sneeze into your elbow.

• Don’t touch your eyes, nose or mouth; germs are spread this way.

• If you are sick, stay home from work, and keep sick children home from school, until fever free for 24 hours without taking fever-reducing medication.

For more information about H1N1 flu, visit the ODH Web site at www.flu.ohio.gov or call the H1N1 information line at (800) 866-1404 from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday.