How to Lower Your Chances of Getting the Flu

Each year, approximately 5 to 20 percent of the worldwide population contracts influenza – a potentially serious virus that causes fever, chills, sore throat, coughing, congestion and muscle aches. In most individuals, the disease causes mild to severe discomfort for about a week, while in others, the disease can cause hospitalization or even death.

The flu virus is an airborne illness that is spread from person to person through sneezing, coughing or talking. Infected individuals are contagious for approximately 8 days, beginning one day before their symptoms begin and lasting an additional 5 to 7 days.

Although it’s not always possible to prevent the flu, there are lifestyle habits you can adopt that will lessen your chances of contracting the illness. By following the tips outlined below, you’ll not only help to keep yourself healthy, but you’ll help keep others healthy, as well. In fact, if everyone adopted the following habits, we’d be able to lessen the instances of the flu dramatically.

7 Tips to Prevent the Flu

Tip #1: Cover Your Nose and Mouth. When sneezing or coughing, make sure to cover your mouth to prevent the transmission of germs into the air. If possible, use a clean tissue to “catch” your cough or sneeze. If a tissue isn’t available, sneeze or cough directly into the crook of your arm.

Tip #2: Wash Your Hands.  Washing your hands with soap and hot water is one of the best things you can do to keep yourself healthy. Make it a point to wash hands after using a public restroom, shaking hands or touching public surfaces such as handrails, shopping carts and doorknobs. When you’re unable to wash, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer to kill germs on contact. Keep in mind…the flu virus can live on surfaces for hours –even weeks! This means that disease-causing germs may be lurking anywhere.

Tip #3: Keep Your Hands Away From Your Face. When a virus enters your body, it enters through one of three points: your mouth, nose or eyes. To make sure you don’t “infect yourself” by inviting germs into your body, keep your hands away from your face as much as possible. If you need to touch your face, make sure you wash your hands first.

Tip #4: Avoid Contact with Sick People. Although this is easier said than done, the less time you spend around sick people, the less likely you’ll be to get sick yourself. Help protect yourself by avoiding crowded areas, carrying hand sanitizer with you and avoiding direct contact with people you don’t know – especially during flu season.

Tip #5: Disinfect Frequently. As mentioned above, the flu virus can live for hours on surfaces – even weeks if the conditions are right. You can limit your exposure to disease-causing pathogens by disinfecting frequently-touched surfaces regularly. Surfaces that harbor germs include desks, keyboards, computer mice, telephones, countertops and doorknobs.

Tip #6: Stay Healthy. Even if the flu virus makes its way into your body, you’ll have a better chance of fighting it off if your immune system is strong. Make sure your immune system is at its best by eating a diet full of disease-fighting fruits and vegetables, getting plenty of sleep and exercising regularly.  The healthier you are, the less likely you are to get sick.

Tip #7: Don’t Smoke. In addition to being an addictive, unhealthy habit that poses multiple health risks, smoking can also make you more susceptible to contracting diseases. The reason for this is because inhaling smoke into your body makes structural changes to your respiratory tract that increases your risk of developing infections.