Ready For The Cold & Flu Season?
The average person suffers through 2- 4 colds per year and approximately 20% of Americans will be infected with the flu.
Let’s take a fresh look at cold and flu season, and how You can help prevent these illnesses.
Common Cold: symptoms usually include sore throat, alternately runny and congested nose, coughing, sneezing, and sometimes a slight fever.
Flu: symptoms are usually more uncomfortable and intense. They can include any combination of fever, soreness in the muscles, headache, nasal symptoms, cough, diarrhea and vomiting.
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention says that most colds and flu are caught by placing infected hands to the eyes or nose or in your mouth. You can infect others a day before your symptoms appear. Incubation period is usually three days, but can range anywhere from one to four days.
What Are Your Best Cold and Flu Prevention Strategies?
1. Washing Your Hands!
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, this is the most important thing you can do to keep from getting sick. By washing your hands frequently, you can clean away germs that have been picked up from various sources.
When to Wash Your Hands:
- Before you eat or touch food.
- After you use the bathroom.
- When you come in from working or playing outdoors.
- After you touch or play with an animal.
- After you cough, sneeze or blow your nose.
2. Don’t Cover Your Sneezes and Coughs with Your Hands!
Because germs and viruses cling to your bare hands, muffling coughs and sneezes with your hands results in passing along your germs to others. When you feel a sneeze or cough coming, use a tissue then throw it away immediately. If you don’t have a tissue, cough or sneeze into the inside of your elbow.
Here Is Your Quick 'To Do' List:
- Wash your hands often with hot water and soap.
- Frequently clean worktop surfaces, phones and keyboards.
- Change your home's air filter.
- Avoid touching your face during cold season.
- Cover your nose and mouth when coughing or sneezing.
- Don’t come into close contact with people who may be ill.
- Keep your immune system strong by eating a healthy antioxidant-rich diet and getting plenty of rest.
- Supplement your diet with a natural fruit & plant-based liquid multivitamin and delayed release, vegetable capsule probiotics.
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