A severe respiratory illness, the flu can be easily spread -- usually from coughing or sneezing -- and can lead to severe complications and even death.

On average each year, about 5 percent to 20 percent of the population gets the flu and more than 200,000 people are hospitalized for flu-related complications.

So how can we change these statistics?

"The best way to avoid getting the flu is to give your body a better chance to fight infection, and that starts with a flu shot," said Dr. Lubna Madani, north region medical director, Northwestern Medicine. "Flu vaccines may vary in effectiveness from year to year, but getting the shot increases your chances of being protected and lessens your symptoms if you do get ill."

Flu myths

Each year as the flu season approaches, doctors hear the same myths from patients. These include:

"The flu shot can make me sick."

The flu vaccine is made from an inactivated virus that can't cause infection. So, if you get sick after getting a flu vaccination, you were likely going to get sick anyway.

More at source: Daily Herald

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A janitorial services provider for Virginia Commonwealth University is laying off 134 workers, but the replacement custodial contractor hopes to hire those workers.

Southeast Service Corp.’s contract to provide cleaning services on VCU’s academic campus, including dormitories, ends Jan. 31. According to a letter notifying the Virginia Employment Commission of the layoffs, one full-time supervisor and 133 custodial workers are losing their jobs.

The new custodial contractor, Phoenix-based Olympus, hopes to hire those workers, said Olympus vice president Joshua Woodworth.

More at source: Richmond Times Dispatch 

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Brain Corp announced today it has entered into a relationship with Walmart to provide AI services and additional floor-cleaning robots to the world’s largest retailer.

The company’s BrainOS platform currently automates more than 100 of Walmart’s fleet of commercial floor scrubbers across the U.S. The companies said Walmart expects to have 360 BrainOS-powered floor-cleaning robots in its stores by the end of Jan. 31, 2019.

The BrainOS provides the floor-cleaning robots with autonomous navigation and data collection capabilities, tied into a cloud-based reporting system. The scrubbers lets store associates quickly map a route during an initial training ride, and then activate autonomous floor cleaning at the press of a button. With multiple sensors to scan surroundings for people and obstacles, Brain said this system provides “the industry’s highest level of safety and performance.”

More at source: Robotics Business Review

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A total of 139 contract workers who provide housekeeping and janitorial services at Chippenham Hospital and Johnston-Willis Hospital are being laid off.

The workers are employees of Wayne, Pa.-based Crothall Healthcare.

A Crothall Healthcare spokeswoman confirmed the company’s contract with Chippenham and Johnston-Willis hospitals was not renewed.

The hospitals are operated by HCA Virginia.

Crothall Healthcare notified the Virginia Employment Commission of the layoffs on Thursday.

More at source at: Richmond.com

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Have you ever aimed cleaning spray at your kitchen countertops and wondered what is actually inside the bottle? With all of the confusing chemicals and terms listed on product labels, it can be hard to know what is inside the cleaning products we bring into our homes. 

It might be impossible to recognize every ingredient in your cleaners, but if you read the label carefully, there are ways to determine the safer options on the market. If you are confused by your cleaning product labels, here is a guide to help you decode some of the common label terms you’ll find.

More at the source: Inhabitat

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BEIJING – Chinese authorities are inspecting several major international hotels after hidden camera video showed room cleaning workers using soiled towels to clean cups and glasses and other questionable practices.

The Chinese tourism ministry said late Thursday that it had asked authorities in Beijing, Shanghai and three provinces to investigate 14 hotels that appear in the video. Several of the hotels including a Sheraton and Waldorf Astoria have apologized.

The nearly The 12-minute video, posted online earlier this week, shows workers cleaning bathrooms. In several clips, they can be seen wiping down sinks, coffee cups and glasses with the same used towel. One wipes a glass with the bottom edge of her cleaning uniform.

An activist blogger who uses the pseudonym “Huazong” posted the video late Wednesday on his verified account on Weibo, a Chinese version of Twitter. He calls the problem longstanding and widespread, writing that he spent 2,000 nights at 147 hotels over six years. The video has been viewed more than 30 million times.

More at source: USA Today

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Those who keep the spaces we occupy clean and functioning are incredibly important. Schools, offices and hospitals and other public places obviously don’t clean themselves. The people who take on this dirty job are janitors and their work should never go unnoticed, but often does. A common narrative around janitors is that their jobs are deemed unimportant. Because of this, their work isn’t acknowledged in the way that it should be.

A person’s work is theirs and deserves to be recognized. Even though it may not be “conventional,” it’s still a job. But why are janitorial jobs considered “unconventional” in the first place? I think that they have been deemed this in society because there is the connotation that cleaning up after others isn’t a job worthy of acknowledgment. However, there’s more to a janitorial job than cleaning up after someone. Without janitors, facilities wouldn’t be able to operate in the ways that they are supposed to on an everyday basis.

More at source: The Carolinian

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Please be advised the office will be closed today in observance and remembrance of Veterans Day. 

POLICE have shared this seemingly innocent image of a woman cleaning a window - but can you spot what's wrong with it?

Across the UK, members of the public are being warned to be vigilant if they spot someone carrying out household jobs - because the real reason could be much more sinister.

In the image, a woman can be seen in a large bay window wiping the glass.

But in a shock warning, Avon and Somerset Police said: "Do you see someone who is always inside the home cleaning? They are also never out of the home on their own?

"This could be an indicator of domestic servitude. Many victims won’t know they’re being exploited and need you to be a voice for them."

More at source: The Sun UK

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