Here Comes Flu Season

Here Comes Flu Season

With flu season approaching, it is important to for you to keep yourself as well-protected as possible against potential outbreaks. By following these flu season tips, it can be easy for you to protect yourself and your family from unwanted illness this holiday season.

Keep Your Medicine Cabinet Full

One of the most important things that you can do is to prepare beforehand. Take the time to pick out the medications you might need for the winter and make sure that existing bottles are not expired. This can help you stay prepared for all types of potential bugs, including the flu and common cold. Some recommended medicines to keep around the house include pain relief medications, fever relievers, decongestants, antihistamines, cough drops and cough medicines. Check in with your doctor and be sure to stock up on the appropriate strength medications if you have children that might get sick.

Keep Other Medical Supplies Around

In addition to medications, it is important to be prepared for being snowed in. Having a good thermometer and batteries around the house is a sure way to reduce the risk of a number of issues, such as medical devices failing. Additionally, it might not hurt to have a humidifier around the house if you or a loved one struggles with asthma and other breathing problems during the winter. Additionally, it can be a good idea to keep other comfort basics around the house, such as hand sanitizer, tissues and soaps designed to be antibacterial. These supplies can help you keep the house cleaner and better protected against bacteria and viruses.

Wash Your Hands Frequently

One of the biggest ways in which diseases are spread during the holidays is through hand contact. Whether ill individuals place their hands on railings that you later touch, or whether you handle money that was touched by someone with a cold during shopping, keeping your hands washed and clean regularly is one of the most important things that you can do during the holidays. Practice proper hand-washing by using antibacterial soap and spending at least two minutes washing your hands. Be sure to get your wrists and between your fingers as well, as these places are often missed.

Avoid Touching Your Face

Another good way to avoid getting sick this holiday season is to try not to put your hands near your face. If you have any bacteria on your hands, one of the surest ways to guarantee a pathway into the lungs or mucous membrane is to place your hands on your face. Though washing your hands can be a great way to reduce the risk of infection overall, it is important for you to exercise caution when you are not in immediate access to antibacterial sanitizer or a washroom.

Practice Healthy Habits

Another important thing that anybody can do to reduce their risk is to prepare for the long-term with healthy habits. Try to exercise regularly and eat a diet that is high in vitamins, minerals and fiber. When your body gets the nutrients it needs, it is able to muster up a stronger defense force against all types of illnesses. Eat healthy and make sure that you do not overload your body with unnecessary calories and sugars to improve your overall sense of well-being.

Your Sneeze Could Infect a Whole Room

We’re in the middle of cold and flu season. Be sure to wash your hands frequently, and make sure to get your flu shot if you haven’t already.

A new study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) concluded that the cloud emitted by a typical sneeze could contaminate an entire room within minutes, according to the American Physical Society publication.

Researchers shot high-speed video of two healthy adults who sneezed more than 50 times over the course of several days. They then analyzed the videos to understand how far and how quickly the sneeze droplets traveled.

It’s common knowledge that sneezes can spread infection, including diseases like the flu or measles. Viruses can be spread when sneeze droplets are inhaled by others or when they land on surfaces people later touch.

The study did not conclude how far sneeze droplets can travel nor why some people’s sneezes can spread illness and some cannot.

A previous study led by an MIT researcher concluded sneeze droplets within only a few minutes can cover an entire room, including ventilation ducts on the ceiling.

The latest study learned how these sneeze droplets are formed. They are formed in a “high propulsion sneeze cloud.” Rather than already formed and distributed at the exit of the nose or mouth, sneeze are formed in this cloud.

Material travels from the lungs and through the lips before forming a cloud in the air.

Learning about specific dynamics of sneezing could help scientists and healthcare providers learn new ways to prevent the spread of disease. This could be helpful to preventing or stopping future epidemics or pandemics.

Though new treatments are not yet developed based on the findings of this study, doctors can continue to educate patients and their families about the importance of cough and sneeze etiquette.

For example, be sure to cover your mouth and nose when you cough or sneeze, and take care to wash your hands after. Use tissue to cover your face. If you don’t have any handy, cough or sneeze into your upper arm, rather than your hands.