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Flu

The Best Ways to Prevent the Flu

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As anyone who has suffered from it knows, catching the flu is a horrible experience. The fever, chills, aches, soreness, muscle pain and extreme fatigue that flu causes will keep the afflicted in bed for days. Besides being in pain and miserable, the sick person will have to miss days or weeks of work – their entire life will be put on hold. Worse, in extreme cases the illness can be fatal. While the vast majority of sufferers survive, every year hundreds of thousands die from the flu worldwide. Clearly, flu prevention is vitally important.

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Luckily, concrete steps can be taken Continue reading The Best Ways to Prevent the Flu →

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Three Easy Ways to Avoid the Flu

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Flu season is no longer coming–it is here. No one wants to stay at home with fever, nausea, and the other unpleasantries that come with being sick. Even if you got the flu shot, with the dismal effective numbers for this year’s vaccine, odds are pretty good you’ll still get sick. It never hurts to do your part when you want something. If good health is high on your list, check out the tips below. Practicing these three tips can help reduce the possibility of becoming a victim of this year’s debilitating strain of influenza.

Wash Your Hands: Everyone hears that handwashing is important but what most people don’t hear frequently enough is how to do it right. To avoid infection, hands must be scrubbed with soap for at least twenty to thirty seconds. Thirty seconds is approximately the time it takes to sing the ABC song. Rinse your hands thoroughly with clean water and dry them well. Regular handwashing is by far the easiest, cheapest, and most convenient protection against contracting the flu.

Avoid Germ-Laden Surfaces: You don’t have to refuse to use your hands to open doors or wear gloves everywhere to protect yourself from germy fixtures. A little knowledge about germ hotspots can help you decide what to touch and what you’d rather not handle. Gas pump dispensers are much dirtier than toilet seats and wiping down shopping carts is definitely a good idea. Carrying a small container of hand sanitizer in your pocket will allow you to instantly zap any germs. However, keep in mind that sanitizers kill good germs that help build your immune system as well as bad germs that make you sick, so use it sparingly.

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Stay Away From Crowds: Chilly winter weather makes indoor activities much more appealing. Unfortunately, it is much easier to pass germs around in close quarters. If at all possible, avoid venues that you know will be crowded. Do your grocery shopping at times that are less busy, such as the middle of the week. Try to stay away from locations such as malls, crowded theaters, or events where a lot of people will be in a confined space.

The tips above do not guarantee you’ll make it through the season illness-free but they can certainly decrease your chances of getting sick. As an added bonus, protecting yourself from the flu also prevents you from spreading it to others. When you consider the loss of time, money, and the terrible feeling of having the flu, a little handwashing or grocery shopping at odd hours seems like no big deal.

Flu

What’s Nu with Flu?

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I previously wrote about influenza at the end of 1918. But I couldn’t resist adding a bit more to the story based on the December, 2018 book “Influenza” by Jeremy Brown, MD.

So what’s “nu”? Brown tells the well-known story of 1918, the search for the original virus, etc., but then adds to the melodrama. For example, the truth about Tamiflu. Therein hangs a tale. Seems that Tamiflu (or oseltamivir if you prefer generic names) is only marginally effective. Supposedly it can shorten the symptomatic period by only a day and only if it is taken within 48 hours of the onset of symptoms. OK, well something is better than nothing I suppose.

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But the story doesn’t end there. Seems that governments around the world, including the US government, bought into the Hoffman-LaRoche inspired hype that Tamiflu was the best hope the world has to abort any impending influenza pandemic. With that in mind, the Strategic National Stockpile of emergency medicine, maintained by the CDC, added millions of doses of Tamiflu to its warehouses.

But the Cochrane Collaborative, an independent scientific critic, as quoted by Jeremy Brown said that Tamiflu was marginally effective in treating influenza and a little more effective in preventing it, but came with its own list of side effects that could imitate the symptoms of flu itself.

So, what to do? Hand hygiene, barrier protection, avoiding sick people if possible, and, of course, vaccination. Vaccination is only about 50% effective in prevention but may possibly lower the severity of an infection. I get my flu shot every year and don’t forget to cross my fingers. So far, so good.

Keep smiling!

Gordon Short, MD
Brevis Corporation

Flu, Hand Hygiene, Handwashing Saves Lives, Infection prevention

Can the holidays make you sick?

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What makes us get sick more often during the holiday season?

Many theories have been postulated and studied over the years and many factors are blamed for being virus enablers. Closer proximity of hosts (us) within closed spaces makes transmission easier due to the shared air we breathe while indoors and the common surfaces we touch as people share confined areas. Further, foods are presented and ingested in areas with higher germ populations due to the foregoing.

Other theories suggest that inactivity and depression generally increases with the cold and gloomy weather and this coupled with decreased exposure to the sun may tend to inhibit our immune systems.

We suspect that all of these factors and more contribute to the seasonal spike in illnesses. But, there are some commons sense actions that can help reduce your chances of being the next holiday (infection) host. The most effective way to reduce your risks of seasonal sickness is to wash your hands often, especially after shaking hands, touching surfaces in common areas such as handrails and countertops and especially before eating.

In the spirit of holiday cheer (and microbial fear) check out these funny new flu and handwashing posters meant to remind with mirth and good cheer.

Healthy holidays to all.


New Flu & Handwashing Posters

 

Image of flu close up by cdc.gov.

Handwashing Saves Lives, Infection prevention

Can Being Cold Make You Sick?

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We bundle up when it’s cold outside so we can stay comfortable by being warm. But does staying warm also contribute to being healthy?

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Prolonged exposure to cold can lead to serious health problems like hypothermia and frostbite. Infants and older adults are particularly susceptible to sickness in winter months. But the common cold is caused by rhinovirus, which replicates more readily at cooler temperatures– like in a nasal cavity, rather than a place closer to a warmer core body temperature.  

 

Ellen Foxman, an assistant professor at Yale University School of Medicine, and her colleagues have embarked on a study to determine whether colder temperatures make the virus more effective or the immune system less effective. Examining the innate immune system (present in every cell) in airways in mice, and in human cells, yielded similar results: at a warmer core body temperature, innate immune pathways blocking viral growth are more active, and an enzyme that degrades the viral genome works better.

 

So go ahead and put that scarf around your nose– the warmth might help you avoid that cold after all. Even more, Foxman recommends washing your hands so germs aren’t transmitted to your eyes, nose, or mouth. She explains, “If the virus isn’t in your nose, it can’t cause infection.”

 

Sources:

http://www.popsci.com/can-being-cold-really-make-you-sick

https://www.cdc.gov/disasters/winter/index.html

Flu

5 Ways to Help Prevent the Flu

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Flu season is upon us! The flu (or influenza) causes more hospitalizations among young children than any other vaccine-preventable disease. Beyond getting seasonal flu vaccines, what else can be done to protect against getting the flu?

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Here are 5 actions to take every day:

Stay home when you are sick. Nobody likes to fall behind in their day-to-day tasks, so it can be tempting to go to work or school, or even run errands when you’re sick. Staying home, however, will help others from catching your illness. (Plus, you need to rest so you can recover quickly!) Also, avoid close contact with others who are sick.

 

Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze, throw the tissue away after you use it, then wash your hands. Teach children to cough or sneeze into their elbow (if a tissue isn’t available) rather than their hands to minimize spread of germs.

 

Avoid touching your eyes, nose, or mouth. It may take a concentrated effort to break these habits, but remember: germs spread this way.

 

Clean and disinfect surfaces and objects frequently touched at home, work, or school, especially when someone is sick.

 

Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after coughing or sneezing. Alcohol-based hand rub is another option if soap and water aren’t available.

 

Children and adults alike can make healthy choices at school, work, and home to help prevent catching– and spreading– the flu.

 

Sources:

http://www.cdc.gov/flu/school/index.htm

http://www.cdc.gov/flu/pdf/freeresources/updated/everyday_preventive.pdf

https://pixabay.com/en/allergy-cold-disease-flu-girl-18656/
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