Flu Season

Geek tips

Geek Tip: Keep Phones Clean During Flu Season

You may never give up tweeting and Tumbling from the dirtiest place in any building, but there are plenty of easy precautions to take to keep your most-used device germ-free, especially now, while much of the nation battles a powerful flu virus.

You may never give up tweeting and Tumbling from the dirtiest place in any building, but there are plenty of easy precautions to take to keep your most-used device germ-free, especially now, while much of the nation battles a powerful flu virus. Follow our below guide for safe and healthy use of phones — and any other mobile devices — this season.

  • As with cleaning any other gadget, when disinfecting a touch-screen smartphone, you don't want to use any harsh chemicals or, the ultimate no-no, water. Using a tried and tested cleaner like iKlear ($25) to ensure you won't damage your phone's sensitive bits. Use the included microfiber cloth, and shine that baby up.
  • If you don't want to spring for a special formula, then a 40/60 alcohol-to-water mixture on solid phone parts and keyboards should be OK (use a damp cloth and/or cotton swab for small and hard-to-reach places). However, don't use any sort of alcohol, ammonia, or harsh cleaning agent on touch screens.
  • In a pinch and want to quickly rid your phone of dirty crevices and fingerprints? Use a piece of Scotch Tape to peel away dirt and rid your phone of fingerprints. Perfect for when you're at the office (without a microfiber cloth), but unfortunately, it won't help the germ situation.
  • Serious germaphobes can ensure a clean device with the Vio UV Cell Phone Sanitizer ($50), which wipes your device clean of 99.9 percent of strep, E. coli, salmonella, listeria, and H1N1 viruses in under five minutes. Drop the phone in the sanitizer once a day to keep germs at bay.

While in cleaning mode, give headphones or earbuds a quick refresh. Use a gentle cloth to wipe them down with a small amount of dishwashing detergent and water mixture. Careful, though! Too much soap could leave a residue on your earbuds, and you never want to use more water than absolutely necessary . . . to your — and your tech's — health!

celebrity moms

Sarah Chalke Wants You and Your Kids to Get the Flu Shot

She's played a doctor on TV, but that's not the reason former Scrubs regular Sarah Chalke wants you to get a flu shot.

She's played a doctor on TV, but that's not the reason former Scrubs regular Sarah Chalke wants you to get a flu shot. The star of the upcoming How to Live With Your Parents (For the Rest of Your Life) is also a mother to 2-year-old son Charlie and is adamant about keeping him and other children healthy this Winter. It may sound early to be talking about the flu, but flu season typically starts in October, and it takes about two weeks for the vaccine to be effective. I spoke with Sarah about her involvement in the Faces of Influenza campaign and how she handles her son's vaccinations, and asked her to answer our Four Lil Questions.

LilSugar: Why did you choose to get involved in the Faces of Influenza campaign?
Sarah Chalke: I am a huge believer in the flu vaccine. I have had it every year and have never had the flu. My whole family gets it. I come from a long line of vaccinated Canadians, and so Charlie got a flu shot for the first time when he was 6 months old. It was always important to me and is even more important to me now, because the most important thing to me is keeping that lil nugget healthy and keeping myself healthy. I work with like 120 people and expose myself to so much, so it always has been important to me, and now even more so.

LilSugar: What is one of the biggest misconceptions about the flu?
SC: People don't always recognize how serious it can be, that there can be some serious complications from the flu and even death. People believe they'll be down for a few days and then be fine, and that's just not the case.

LilSugar: If you could tell families just one thing they needed to know about the flu shot, what would it be?
SC: If you're vaccinating your kid for the first time and they're between the ages of 6 months old and 8 years old, you need to give them two doses.

LilSugar: No one enjoys getting shots — parents or kids. How do you handle it when your son gets shots?
SC: Charlie actually came with me to get mine. It's not initially what I intended, but it ended up timing out that way and it ended up being great, because he saw that I got one too. [I said,] "You know what, buddy, I'm making my body stronger and it's just going to take two seconds, and then I'm going to be all done and my body's going to be so strong." When we went to go get his, I told him the same thing, and he said, "To make my body stronger!" He's a little guy and cried for two seconds and that's it. It's so quick and it's so easy and we bring in a little game or his favorite movie (Cars). Distraction and a quick treat and you're done!

Keep reading to see how Sarah answers our Four Lil Questions!

ginger

5 Quick, Easy Ginger Recipes For Kids

Ginger has been used for centuries as an immune system booster, thanks to its antibacterial and antiviral properties.

Ginger has been used for centuries as an immune system booster, thanks to its antibacterial and antiviral properties. In addition, ginger helps alleviate indigestion and other stomach upsets. Warming and soothing, ginger can also help alleviate respiratory problems like coughs, bronchitis, and asthma. Especially during the upcoming flu season, keep your family healthy with these five kid-friendly preparations of ginger. Get the recipes.