Want to avoid getting the flu or a cold? Wash your hands

Even though people tend to associate the common cold and influenza with the literally cold season of winter, Susan Harp, the infection control coordinator for Columbus Regional Healthcare Systems, said that catching one of these respiratory illnesses has less to do with the weather and more to do with how humans behave during colder seasons.

“I think probably the cold weather tends to make people congregate more, stay inside more, and that probably is really what’s attributed to illnesses and transmission rather than an actual temperature that happens outside,” Harp said.

Cold and flu seasons usually begin around the end of September or early October and this is when Harp recommends taking the number one preventative measure: getting a flu shot.

The availability of the shot varies from year to year, she said, depending on whether any new strains of influenza have popped up. And while Harp admits that it’s not perfect, getting the vaccination is better than not getting it.

As far as other ways to protect oneself during this increasingly illness-prone season, Harp recommends increased hand hygiene and staying away from infected individuals.

“(The flu shot) is the number one (preventive measure), but number two is you try to avoid sick people if you can,” she said. “But that’s kind of hard to do especially if they’re your children. And I think that’s probably one of the toughest ones if you are caring for somebody who’s sick you want to be very careful, you want to wash your hands, be careful if you’re handling tissues that they’ve used, if you’re picking up after them.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a person can be contagious up to one day before symptoms show and for five to seven days after.

While it’s hard to isolate yourself if you don’t know you’ve contracted an illness, Harp said it’s important to stay home from work or school if you’re sick to help stop the spread of germs and to help yourself get better faster.

“Stay away long enough when you’re sick. That’s hard to say in this competitive job market that we have and people are afraid of not looking like a good performer,” she said. “But you do want to stay at home. Usually the rule of thumb is you want to be home and fever-free for 24-hours without using a fever-reducing medicine like Tylenol or something.”

Colds are generally less severe than the flu and the symptoms are manageable with over-the-counter medications. Harp said most people won’t miss work because of a cold, making it even more important to wash hands frequently and wipe down any equipment used in the office, including keyboards and telephones.

During cold and flu seasons, Harp said it’s also important to be aware of what you touch when you’re out running everyday errands. She recommends wiping down shopping carts with antibacterial wipes and using hand sanitizer often.

“Hand washing, hand washing, hand washing,” Harp said. “That’s really the key. I think people just don’t really think about how often they touch stuff.”

Flu symptoms, which include fever, body aches, extreme tiredness and dry cough, are more severe than cold symptoms, which include running or stuffy nose, sneezing, sore throat, watery eyes and mild head and body aches.