Prevention!
Protect yourself from cold and flu viruses!
- Wash your hands often. Most cold and flu viruses are spread by direct contact.
- Don’t touch your face. Cold and flu viruses enter your body through the eyes, nose, or mouth.
- Drink plenty of fluids, at least eight 8-ounce classes each day. Water flushes your system, washing out the poisons as it rehydrates you.
- Do aerobic exercise regularly. It helps to increase the body’s natural virus-killing cells.
- Don’t smoke. Statistics show that heavy smokers get more severe colds and more frequent ones. Even being around smoke profoundly zaps the immune system.
- Cut alcohol consumption. Heavy drinkers are more prone to initial infections as well as secondary complications. Alcohol also dehydrates the body.
- Get a flu vaccine, especially if you are in a high-risk group. Early in the season is ideal, but the vaccine can be given at any time during the flu season.
- WebMD.com
Treatment!
When you have a cold:
- Relieve symptoms with over-the-counter medications. Congestion, cough, and nasal discharge may be treated with a decongestant, antihistamine, or a combination of the two.
- Adequate liquid intake (eight classes of water or juice per day) is recommended. This will help keep the lining of the nose and throat from drying out, so that mucus remains moist and easy to clear from the nose.
- It won’t delay your recovery if you must go to work or school. But be a good citizen. Use tissues and wash your hands frequently to reduce the spread of your cold germs to others.
When you have the flu:
- There are effective antiviral treatments that can reduce the duration of the suffering caused by the flu. See your doctor within 2 days of when flu symptoms appear to find out if an antiviral medication is right for you.
- Over-the-counter medications can minimize discomfort associated with flu symptoms, but these medications do not treat the virus infection.
- Adequate liquids and nutrition are necessary for rapid recovery and to prevent dehydration. Bed rest is also a good idea. Until symptoms are gone, it is not advisable to go back to full activity.
- LungUSA.org
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Cold & Flu Quiz!
Feeling under the weather? Should you stay home or go to work? Take this quiz to see how serious your symptoms are!
(Click each question to display the answer)
- Sniffling, achy, a little tired? You may have:
a. The common cold b. The flu c. Either
- Either a cold or the flu. Both the flu and the common cold can leave you achy, tired, and congested. And both the flu and colds are contagious, so stop the spread. When you have cold or flu symptoms, some of which include runny nose, sneezing, and nasal congestion, stay home.
- You have a mild cough but no fever. You're dealing with:
a. A cold b. The flu c. Either
- A cold. A fever and cough are common symptoms of the flu, and sometimes the cough can become severe. A mild cough is common with a cold, but fevers are rare. The first two or three days you notice cold symptoms such as a cough, sneezing, and congestion, stay home -- that cold is contagious.
- Your ears are aching. You could have:
a. An ear infection b. A cold c. Either
- Either. Simple congestion from the common cold can leave you with aching ears, but sometimes a cold can lead to more -- a bacterial infection in the middle ear. If your ears really hurt, you may have an ear infection. While it’s not contagious, you will want to see a doctor. Ear infections, which can have several causes, don’t usually go away on their own; you may need an antibiotic.
- You're no longer congested or achy, but a cough has lingered for more than a week. Could it still be a cold?
a. Yes b. No c. Not sure
- Yes. Most colds are over in four to seven days, though they can last for as long as two weeks, with a cough being one of the lingering symptoms. Though you may still feel a bit run-down, your cold isn’t contagious. You can find symptom relief for a cough with antihistamines or cough suppressants (talk with your doctor first). Then you should be good to go. To work, that is.
- What should you do if your cold symptoms get worse after three days:
a. Get more bed rest b. Call a doctor c. Take over-the-counter medication for symptoms
- Call a doctor. If your cold symptoms worsen within a few days, you could have complications, such as a bacterial infection. Some infections -- like strep throat -- are contagious. Call your doctor if you experience unusually severe cold symptoms, high fever, ear pain, sinus-type headache, a worsening cough while cold symptoms improve, or flare-ups of chronic lung problems such as asthma. Your doctor will take a history of your symptoms and perform an exam. Until you know the results, stay home.
Quiz courtesy of WebMD.com |