The flu bug is making its way through the City of Thomasville’s administrative building. As the Times-Enterprise reported earlier this week, 19 city employees were stricken by the flu, and the city even went so far as to warn people not to come to the Administrative Building.

It’s still flu season and in the interest of either shortening its duration or its impact, there are ways to mitigate its effect. We’ve urged prevention against the flu recently but given the severity of the outbreak in the halls of city offices, it might bear repeating. The flu’s persistence may even make it seem like “Groundhog’s Day,” the movie. 

The Centers for Disease Control say flu, and influenza-like illness, activity is high for the state of Georgia. We’re not alone — 40 other states are reporting high levels of influenza-like illness.

The best way to prevent getting the flu, the CDC says, is to get a flu vaccine. Everyone 6 months or older and especially people who are at high risk should get a flu shot every year, the CDC recommends. The flu shot takes about two weeks to take effect in your system. 

So far, about 173 million doses of flu vaccine have been distributed nationwide.

There also are effective flu antiviral drugs available by prescription.

Short of a trip to the doctor’s office or the pharmacy, there are some things the CDC says you can do to close the window on the flu season:

• Try to avoid close contact with sick people.

• While sick, limit contact with others as much as possible to keep from infecting them.

• If you are sick with flu-like illness, CDC recommends that you stay home for at least 24 hours after your fever is gone except to get medical care or for other necessities. (Your fever should be gone for 24 hours without the use of a fever-reducing medicine.)

• Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. After using a tissue, throw it in the trash and wash your hands.

• Wash your hands often with soap and water. If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand rub.

• Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth. Germs spread this way.

• Clean and disinfect surfaces and objects that may be contaminated with germs like flu.

And we hope the folks at the city — and anyone else knocked down by the flu — gets to feeling better soon.