The main way illnesses like the flu and the common cold spread is by tiny droplets sprayed into the air when someone coughs or sneezes. The air expelled through sneezing can travel up to 100 miles per hour! Every American has seen that picture in their science textbook...
Protect yourself against the spread of the flu and other germs and viruses:
- Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue or your upper sleeve when coughing or sneezing. Throw away used tissues immediately.
- Wash hands thoroughly and often. That means using soap and warm water and washing for 20 seconds. Use alcohol-based hand sanitizers when hand washing is not possible.
- Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs are often spread when you touch something contaminated with germs. Germs can live for two hours or more on surfaces like doorknobs, desks or chairs.
- Avoid close contact with those who are sick.
- Visit http://www.cdc.gov/germstopper/ for more information.
If you do come down with a cold or the flu, take these steps to get well:
- Wash your hands often.
- Stay home and keep your distance from others to protect them from getting sick, too.
- Get plenty of rest.
- Drink lots of fluids like water, tea, broth or juice.
- Take acetaminophen or ibuprofen as needed for pain or fever.
- Use a vaporizer or saline drops to relieve congestion.
- EXERCISE reduces the severity and frequency of colds.
- Smoking impedes the smooth flow of mucus through the nasal passages and overall recovery. If you do smoke, try not to while you are sick.
Get well soon!
The common cold results in 23 million days of absences from work; about 40% of the total absences.
See link: http://ihm.nlm.nih.gov/luna/servlet/detail/NLMNLM~1~1~101444679~154919:The-Cost-Of-The-Common-Cold-&-Influ?qvq=q:A027712;lc:NLMNLM~1~1&mi=0&trs=1
