Swine Flu outbreak that started in Mexico affected thousands of people and in Mexico itself as of today recorded 68 deaths of confirmed cases due to swine flu. WHO (World Health Organization) says 40 countries have reported more than 8,480 cases, mostly in U.S. and Mexico.
Furthermore, Swine Flu outbreak brought fear to millions of people around the globe and a threat of pandemic alert level. Health authorities worldwide device precautionary measures to combat possible entry of Swine Flu.
Though you can’t curb the threat of having flu or colds the good thing is by simple ways and tips to avoid cold and flu you can effectively protect your health from acquiring cold or flu, from Reader’s Digest magazine May 2009 issue, I red a very timely health infromation on how to protect yourself from flu, " The twenty-three (23) Proven Ways to Beat a Cold or Flu."
Braise yourself guys, with these 23 practices to avoid cold or flu you're most likely can't catch cold or flu.
1. Wash your hands and wash them often
The US Naval Health Research Center conducted a study of 40,000 recruits who were ordered to wash their hands five times a day. The recruits cut their incidence of respiratory illnesses by 45 percent.
2. Get smart about hand-drying in public toilets
Studies find a shockingly large percentage of people fail to wash their hands after using a public toilet. And every single one of them touches the door handle on the way out. So after washing your hands, use a paper towel to turn off the tap. Use another paper towel to dry your hands, then open the door with that paper towel as a barrier between you and the handle.
3. Prevention is key: get a flu shot every year
The best prevention strategy for influenza is an annual vaccination. According to the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council, the vaccine is particularly important for people at risk of serious complications from the flu. This includes healthcare workers, people with chronic conditions such as diabetes, asthma, kidney problems or heart disease, people aged over 65 and pregnant women. People whose immune systems are weakened through illness or medication should also ask their doctor about getting the shot.
4. Carry hand sanitiser with you
Colds are typically passed not from coughing or kissing (although those are two modes of transmission) but from hand-to-hand or hand-to-object contact, since most cold viruses can live for hours on objects. You then put your hand in or near your mouth or nose, and voilà! You're sick.
Carry hand sanitiser gel or sanitising towelettes with you and you can clean your hands anytime, even if the closest water supply is kilometres away. It works. One study of absenteeism due to infection in primary schools found schools using the gel sanitiser had absentee rates from infection nearly 20 percent lower than those using other hand-cleaning methods.
5. Wash your hands twice every time you wash them
When researchers at Columbia University looked for germs on volunteers' hands, they found one handwashing had little effect, even when using antibacterial soap. So wash twice if you're serious about fending off colds.
6. Change your toothbrush every three months
You think your toothbrush gets your teeth clean – and it does. But once you've finished brushing, it can be a breeding ground for germs. Most dentists recommend you change your brush every two to three months. It's also a good idea to replace it after you've had a cold or flu to prevent reinfection.
7. Put a box of tissues wherever people sit
Buy multipacks of tissue boxes and strategically place them around the house, your workplace, your car. Don't let aesthetics thwart you. You need tissues widely available so that anyone who has to cough or sneeze or blow his nose will do so in the way least likely to spread germs.
8. Stop blaming yourself when things go wrong
Believe it or not, blaming yourself makes you more likely to catch a cold! Researchers found that even those who had control over their work were more likely to begin sneezing if they lacked confidence or tended to blame themselves when things went wrong. Such attitudes make people more stressed on the job, and stress, as you know, can challenge your immune system.
9. Use your knuckles to rub your eyes
They're less likely to be contaminated with viruses than your fingertip. This is particularly important given that the eye provides a perfect entry point for germs and the average person rubs his eyes or nose or scratches his face 20 to 50 times a day, notes Dr. Jordan Rubin, author of the book The Maker's Diet
10. Sit in a sauna once a week
Why? Because an Austrian study published in 1990 found that volunteers who frequently used a sauna had half the rate of colds during the six-month study period than those who didn't use a sauna at all. It's possible that the hot air you inhale kills cold viruses. Most gyms have saunas these days.
11. Use a humidifier
Dry air provides the perfect environment for cold viruses to thrive, which is one reason why colds are so much more common in cooler weather. And when your mucous membranes dry out, your nose and throat are more prone to irritation. Use a room humidifier, but make sure you change the water daily and clean it every few days.
12. Speaking of which, buy a hygrometer
These little tools measure humidity. You want your home to measure around 50 percent. A consistent measure higher than 60 percent means mould and mildew may start to set in your walls, fabrics, and kitchen; lower than 40 percent and the dry air makes the virus spread more easily.
13. Take a garlic supplement every day
When 146 volunteers received either one garlic supplement a day or a placebo for 12 weeks, those taking the garlic were not only less likely to get a cold, but if they did catch one, they recovered faster.
14. Once a day, sit in a quiet, dim room, close your eyes, and focus on one word
Meditate. It's a proven way to reduce stress. Studies have shown that stress increases your susceptibility to colds. In fact, people with high stress levels have up to twice the number of colds as non-stressed people.
15. Get moving
Ride a bike, join a dance class, or go for a walk. A 2006 study found that older women who did 45 minutes of moderate exercise, five times a week for a year, were up to three times less likely to get a cold than the more sedentary women. The researchers found that the exercisers' immunity was strongest in the last three months of the study.
16. Eat a container of yoghurt every day
A study found that people who ate one cup of yoghurt – whether live culture or pasteurised – had fewer colds than non-
yoghurt-eaters. Start eating yoghurt to build up your immunity before cold and flu season starts.
17. Leave the windows in your house open a crack
You don't have to keep all of them open, but one or two in the rooms in which you spend the most time. This is particularly important if you live in a newer home, where fresh circulating air has been the victim of energy efficiency. A bit of fresh air will do wonders for chasing out germs.
18. Sneeze and cough into your arm or tissue
Whoever taught us to cover our mouths when we cough or sneeze got it wrong. That just puts the germs right on our hands, where you can spread them to objects – and other people. Instead, hold the crook of your elbow over your mouth and nose when you sneeze or cough if a tissue isn't handy. It's pretty rare that you shake someone's elbow or scratch your eye with an elbow, after all.
19. Change childcare centres
Find a smaller childcare centre. Using one where there are six children or fewer is a proven way to reduce exposure to germs. Many parents catch colds from their kids and children get far more colds than adults – up to ten each year.
20. Scrub under your fingernails every night
They're a great hiding place for germs.
21. Don't pressure your doctor for antibiotics
Colds and flu (along with most common infections) are caused by viruses, which means antibiotics - designed to kill bacteria - won't do a thing. They can hurt, however, by killing off the friendly bacteria that are part of our immune defences. If you've used antibiotics a lot lately, consider a course of probiotics - replacement troops for friendly bacteria.
22. At the first hint of a cold, launch the following preventive blitz:
• Suck on a zinc gluconate lozenge until it melts away. Then suck another every few hours.
• Take echinacea, known for its antibiotic and wound-healing properties. Research shows it can cut the risk of a cold in half.
• Cook up a pot of chicken soup.
• Roast garlic in the oven (drizzle whole cloves with olive oil, wrap in baking foil, roast for an hour at 200 deg C), then spread the soft garlic on toast and eat.
Studies find that all these either reduce the length of time you suffer with a cold or help prevent a full-blown cold from occurring.
23. Change or wash your hand towels every three or four days during cold and flu seasonWhen you wash your towels, make sure to use hot water in order to kill the germs.
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