[Closed] How to avoid catching colds/flu

Take a garlic supplement: http://www.healwithfood.org/commoncold/eating-garlic-prevents-flu-study.php

It won't speed up recovery, but will help prevent catching colds.

Get the flu jab each year. I wouldn't focus on cleaning things as such but avoid being close to people who are potentially ill.

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Not sure how to prevent getting them but when I feel it coming on I take Echinecea pills or droplets in water. It usually stops it getting to bad and clears it up quicker.

I though I was susceptible to colds as I seemed to pick one up every other month, I mentioned it to the doctor on a routine check up and he suggested I may have sinusitis.. Turned out I did, had an operetion to remove nasal polops and been much better since. Hasn't totally sorted it but definately much better.

Will try the garlic, but I can't avoid people sadly, I work in a huge building with shared toilets. Not sure I can make a private bathroom a condition of my contract.

I am adding avoiding the work canteen to my list, there are some right hand-nose-wipers among the staff. And the food is grim anyway.

Do people *really* get the flu that often?
I get my fair share of colds etc, but I can think of only once when I had something that was probably flu.

Tell people who come into work when they have a cold/flu, that they aren't heroes they are selfish ****ing ****s.

Usually try to eat not too badly, may take more alcohol than is advisable; but otherwise have the garlic tabs as above, echinicea tabs as well when think cold is on its way. Exercise pretty well, do have C/H in house..

No more or less colds than average person as far as I can tell. Friends swear by First Defence - which looks like just wiping out the bugs in your throat with big slug of surgical spirit..

Not much help really..

Sinusitis - interesting. Sorry for detail, but this latest incident has been accompanied by some really bright yellow snot - was thinking I might have a sinus infection. Definitely worth investigating thanks.

Mind you don't get a little too obsessive about hygiene 😉

Add plenty of fresh air to the list.

Get the flu jab each year.

Getting the flu jab won't make a blind bit of difference to whether or not you get a cold. Flu is not the same thing as the common cold. There isn't a vaccine for the common cold.

I doubt very much if there's any real incidence of flu, having had it twice, I know for a fact that even getting out of bed to go to the loo was a major effort, let alone getting out of the house. If you can function on a day-to-day basis, then it's a cold, pure and simple.
You might [i]feel[/i] like dying, but flu can actually kill you.
Unless you can avoid all contact with other humans, then catching colds is an inevitable consequence of being in working environments with other unhealthy people.
Shit, sadly, happens.

I never get ill, and even when I catch a chill etc it lasts hours not days - my son calls me 'Patient Z' as he's convinced I must be a mutant 🙂

Never really had any sick leave from work either, just once in 30 years due to a bike accident.

Eat well and often, don't smoke and lay off the booze. Average weight, and certainly no diets and/or binge-ing. Keep fit.

I am pretty sure I haven't had 'flu, in fact have never had it. It does tend to get bundled in with colds in general parlance, just covering all bases.

I can't remember the last time i had a cold, must be the dementia. I think good hygiene is a must, if your a nail biter, stop, i don't particularly keep away from the germ meisters, but i'm sure it helps.
I don't drink coffee and go to bed at 9pm most nights, avoid anything that puts your immune system under stress.
In fact can't remember the last time i was ill, less than 5 days off sick in 35 years of employment.
Just a quick edit, i am happily married to a wonderful woman, that might account
for the last 20 years.

The first two suggestions in your OP are key really. Most of the time you get infected by picking up germs on your hands and then transferring them to your face.

That and getting in early with Vicks First Defence, which does actually seem to work (it's just averted a cold for me, had a couple of days of catarrh and it seems to have buggered off).

Eating and drinking sensibly is always good advice for general wellbeing. I wouldn't be faffing about wiping down buttons and handles though, exposing your defence systems to daily life makes it stronger. Just look what happened to the Martians in War of the Worlds.

You'd know if you'd had flu, trust me. "A bad cold" is not flu, any more than a bad headache is a migraine.

Tell people who come into work when they have a cold/flu, that they aren't heroes they are selfish * *.

Of course, some people are self-employed and don't earn if they don't work. Or they could work for a company with a random and punitive approach to sickness management.

At my last job, if I went sick I didn't get paid. Given that meant throwing away 20% of my monthly income, unsurprisingly I went into work. And that was for a FTSE-100 company.

Do you smoke?

When I was a full-time smoker I used to catch every cold/flu bug going. And it'd last forever. Since quitting (most of the time) about four years ago, I rarely get them anymore. Could be down to a general increase of fitness since stopping smoking, or simply not having your fingers near your mouth all the time.

Of course, some people are self-employed and don't earn if they don't work. Or they could work for a company with a random and punitive approach to sickness management.

At my last job, if I went sick I didn't get paid. Given that meant throwing away 20% of my monthly income, unsurprisingly I went into work. And that was for a FTSE-100 company.

So financial gain is your excuse to make other people suffer, perfect example of my point.

I agree with most of your list, I have just tried first defence and zinc pills. However, I have just got a cold 😐
To be fair, everyone around me seems to have one at the moment, including my wife. My symptoms seem pretty mild compared to hers, so maybe it is doing some good.

I once heard one of those TV AM doctors describing the difference between a cold and flu she said " if you see a ten pound note on the floor and pick it up then you have a cold if you can't be bothered then you have flu".

Regarding 'avoiding central heating', I used to work with a lady (who was only slightly eccentric) who would insist on "Changing the air" in the office at least once a day in the winter. This involved opening every window for ten minutes or so to let cold fresh air in. I don't know if it actually prevented illness or not, but it certainly woke you up if it was getting a bit stuffy, and everyone went along with it.

Edit
I suppose with most modern offices this is not even an option with fixed windows and air con.

Anyone that goes to work with the flu is a **** and can **** off

What's the ****ing point, turn up, work like a shower of *****, make other people I'll. **** ****ers.

I managed to duck the office cold from September right until the week before Christmas. Lots of veg, quite a bit of riding and the virus killing strepsils whenever people started breathing over me. I think that our central heating really helps spread everything round the office. Drives me mad but I was determined not to join the office splutterers.

Of course, in the run up to Christmas it finally got me (why is that, you relax your guard and immediately start to go downhill?) and I spent Christmas day dosing up on Lemsip cold and flu.

How to avoid catching colds/flu

Don't work amongst a smorgasbord of bugs, germs and viruses. Like, say, a secondary school. Like the one I teach at...

So [s]financial gain[/s] paying the rent and feeding your children is your excuse to make other people suffer, perfect example of my point.

FTFY

Anyone that goes to work with the flu is a * and can * off

Anyone with the flu wouldn't be able to get out of bed, let alone manage to get to work

I think there is a cogent argument that it is not the people who come to work when they have a cold who are the problem, more the people who don't wash their hands and contribute to the spread of the cold.

Learn how to wash your hands properly and avoid touching your face.
http://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/diseases/washing_hands.html

Its the sub concious rub of the nose or eye that will infect you... unless someone has recently sneezed and the virus in question is airborne.
Just to be clear..
cold/manflu = feel like crap
Proper flu = you wont be able to even get out of bed

A pint of Bovril laced with chilli sauce and brandy 😈

Dunno about you lot but every time someone near me sneezes I hold my breath as long as I can.

I seem to get colds less than most, so it may be of some help.

If you have young kids then you're doomed. The little blighted pick something up at least once a month, which gives them the sniffles but knocks the stuffing out of adults. Kids are wretched little germ bags.

On the work front, whilst I agree that bringing your cold into the work place sucks, I'd be out of a job if I stayed away every time i got a cold. In my experience Most employers hate two things..... Employees with kids, and employees off sick.

Anyone with the flu wouldn't be able to get out of bed, let alone manage to get to work

More specifically I'm thinking of people "coming down with flu"

I may not actually be as grumpy as I read.

Everything you write in your OP is correct. Just wash your hands as soon as you enter your house from outside so as to prevent viruses infecting points of contact.

Central heating makes no difference.

Someone- might have been Andy Barlow- recommended me to basically mainline vitamin c, garlic and echinacea any time it seemed like either a) high risk of a cold or b) really didn't want to get one (race, holiday etc) and c) when you've already got one and want to smite it. No idea if it works but at least it feels like you're doing something.

Not had a cold in about 3 years, never had flu. Haven't a clue why, but I don't really get the 'I get it because I'm exposed to it' that teachers and the likes spout. Surely your immune system is stronger due to exposure?.

It's a virus so no garlic, magic drops is going to prevent it. Living healthy helps, drinking plenty fluids helps as it'll keep you immune system fighting. If you're not sure if you've had the flu or not you've not.

Sinusitis - interesting. Sorry for detail, but this latest incident has been accompanied by some really bright yellow snot - was thinking I might have a sinus infection. Definitely worth investigating thanks.

http://www.boots.com/en/NeilMed-Sinus-Rinse-Kit_121768/

this helps a lot

feels like you are self water boarding for the first few times

I don't really get the 'I get it because I'm exposed to it' that teachers and the likes spout. Surely your immune system is stronger due to exposure?

Well... seeing as you've singled out my comment:

Personally... I have Type 1 diabetes and asthma so have an immune system weaker than many of my colleagues - and, by the sound of it, you. I hope that others are luckier and aren't as prone.

Any words of wisdom you'd like to 'spout'..? 😉

IIRC I didn't get any of the bugs last winter - and I was riding in twice a week - got me out of the public transport system, kept my immune system strong and got me lots of Vitamin D during the dark season.

I have a bottle of alcohol hand rub which I use before I touch my keyboard when I get to work, to save transferring any bugs from touching stuff everyone else has touched to something I'll be touching all day.

I think eating super-healthy when the bugs are flying around, lots of sleep and some echinacea probably help.

General principle of keeping your immune system strong and protect yourself from the bugs of others seems to make sense.

No idea if any of this is scientific!

househusband - Member
I don't really get the 'I get it because I'm exposed to it' that teachers and the likes spout. Surely your immune system is stronger due to exposure?
Well... seeing as you've singled out my comment:

Personally... I have Type 1 diabetes and asthma so have an immune system weaker than many of my colleagues - and, by the sound of it, you. I hope that others are luckier and aren't as prone.

Any words of wisdom you'd like to 'spout'..?

Not meaning to quote you at all! More some of my work colleagues and their partners that seem to use nursery/school as an excuse. Put your teacher defence mechanism back in it's pouch HH! 😀

Lol - cheers!

*hugs*

Combination of avoidance and prevention.

Eating well and avoiding unecassarry contamination may help but mostly I would recommend loads of outdoor exercise and using your body for what it was designed, never has the saying "use it or lose it" been truer.

I haven't had a cold or whatever you call it for years.

Neti pot to clear out your nose holes.

Cod liver oil plus vitamin B complex work for me.

Being diabetic I assumed heat my immune system may not be brilliant but as it turns out it's only my lymphocytes that protect me from bacterial infections that were low......but so was my vitamin D.......now on vitamin D3 supplements courtesy of an efficient doctor who believes that it will correct not just the lymphocyte count but also possibly some other issues....and I was able to drop one of my diabetic meds!
Whole family have been ill with coughs and colds on and off for the past year or so but I make a point of keeping them away with a big shitty stick and it works.........touch wood.....l 😆

I forgot, my favourite cold prevention. I read an article about athletes apparently being more vulnerable to colds and as an aside it said that very little in the way of preventative measures appeared to work. The only thing that had a statistically significant correlation with fewer colds was quercetin. Which I googled. Turns out it's a bioflavonoid present in red wine. Well, that's my excuse anyway. Cheers 8)

Flu jab
wash hands
don't touch your mouth/pick nose with unwashed hands
Avoid people who cough/sneeze without covering their mouths
lots of vitamin C

Since I stopped running and did lots more cycling instead, I've had noticeably fewer colds.

The advice to take vitamin C is codswallop, literally. During a cold your body has a temporarily reduced ability to absorb vitammin C, which has given rise to another string of quack remedies claiming that vitamin C somehow helps you to fight off colds.

Wash hands on returning home, avoid touching eyes and nose and if you get a sore throat, try gargling 3 times a day with Corsodyl, which I have found can help you fight it off.

I must be lucky as the only time I was my hands is after going to the loo yet very rarely get ill. I'm a strong believer of what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

I must be lucky as the only time I was my hands is after going to the loo yet very rarely get ill. I'm a strong believer of what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

Please never visit a hospital with that hand washing routine and attitude, people who act like that are why things like norovirus is so prevalent

I used to get a cold every time that I had a flu jab. The past few years I have had a few lemsips before and after the flu jab and that seems to have prevented the jab related cold taking hold.

A small tip that might help those who go for a flu jab 😀

I always get the feeling I'm getting a cold after the jab but never have in the last 8 years it's probably psychosomatic

not psychosomatic, rd, it's a low-grade "flu" response to the vaccine
(unless you mean "as I'm rolling down my sleeve and walking out of the room")

psychosomatic

Thanks. Now I have the Pridigy/Breathe stuck in my head [which seems kinda appropriate].

[url= http://www.boots.com/en/Pharmacy-Health/Health-shop/Cough-cold-flu/Flu-Vaccinations/ ]http://www.boots.com/en/Pharmacy-Health/Health-shop/Cough-cold-flu/Flu-Vaccinations/[/url]

Only £12.99

Avoidance of colds and various other infections is a way of life not just something you do when you think colds are floating around.

As I've previously written, I use antiseptic wipes on trolleys before I use them. Weird? I don't really give a shit as it cuts down on the risk. Items you've recently purchased and particularly those that are going to be used within 72 hours get a wipe down with IPA when I get home, too. Yes it's a faff but I'd rather that than catch a cold. I cycle everywhere and it's my main form of transport - if the engine's stuffed so am I.

I understand that if you work in a closed environment with other people then it's nigh on impossible to keep this up and you will inevitably catch something. I'm lucky; I don't have daily contact with many people and can control the conditions very easily. When I do catch something it's usually when I hire a car or just lose concentration with the avoidance procedure.

Stepsils contain two useful antibacterial agents. I suck on one if I think I've dropped my guard. It's a bit better tasting than Corsodyl, too. I doubt it does much good once you've contracted something, though that's generally when folk will be necking them. Whether or not they make any difference, I don't know, but it works for me.

And for those claiming you'll weaken your immune by not contracting a cold on a regular basis, when I do eventually catch something it leaves my body just as quick as when I caught them on a yearly basis, so I reckon that's just a load of urban bollocks or something.

And for those claiming you'll weaken your immune by not contracting a cold on a regular basis,

No-one's claimed that. Try again.

Stepsils contain two useful antibacterial agents.

Yes, but a cold is a virus...

No-one's claimed that.

And yet, with the addition of the 'try again' comment, you reveal you knew the meaning of that particular sentence, though I fail to see what you think I was 'trying' to achieve.

Yes, but a cold is a virus...

Indeed. Maybe the virus dislikes the flavour or something. 😉

I mentioned them as an alternative to Globalti's Corsodyl suggestion, so more aimed at him than a bid to get folk to neck the bleeders willy nilly, though that's exactly what I do - probably result in cancer or something...

I've got another one:

Sore throat?

Colgate total, gargle with a strong mix of it and water, or smear some into the creases of the tonsils a few times a day and at night.

Triclosan may prove to be risky in the long run, but it works wonders.

And yet, with the addition of the 'try again' comment, you reveal you knew the meaning of that particular sentence, though I fail to see what you think I was 'trying' to achieve.

Well, what you were trying to achieve is to argue against something that you've misunderstood.

No-one claimed that "you'll weaken your immune by not contracting a cold on a regular basis," rather we're asserting that your immune system will be stronger if it's exposed to the normal background grot of everyday life. By sterilising everything you touch you're actually weakening your immune system as it's got nothing to do. You don't have to "contract" anything, that's not what we were saying.

smear some into the creases of the tonsils

...made me chuckle.

Weirdo!

I'm pretty much the exact opposite of teasel when it comes to errr, biological security relying on good diet and a robust immune system (they make documentaries about people with your illness teasel)

I rarely get a sniffle, but after 72 hours of a frightened 2 year old with pneumonia coughing into my face day and night a week or so ago I can feel a bit of a cold trying to get a foothold..

No-one claimed that "you'll weaken your immune by not contracting a cold on a regular basis," rather we're asserting that your immune system will be stronger if it's exposed to the normal background grot of everyday life. By sterilising everything you touch you're actually weakening your immune system as it's got nothing to do. You don't have to "contract" anything, that's not what we were saying.

Actually, someone above did but it was more of a question, but I didn't aim that at anyone in particular, more a correction of a misunderstood concept.

But humour me for a moment - I see the use of 'we' a lot on this forum, particularly from members that have a P in front of their names and more so with those that have a capital - is there an unspoken, hidden clique on this forum that's passed me by or something... 😉

But seriously, I seem to remember you and I having a similar discussion some months back and you suggesting that I was weakening my resistance to colds by avoiding contracting them, to which I replied as above; there seems little difference in their effect. So, although you haven't claimed it on this thread, you have at a different time. I've just searched my history for the thread in case I remembered incorrectly but can't locate it right now. But hey, it's no biggy for me - just chewin' the fat. If you don't want to follow my advice or take my word as truthful that's your choice.

Stopped having flu jabs 5 years ago, not had the flu since. Stopped smoking 3 years ago, not had a cold since. Upped the biking/exercise which obviously helps too.

How go you get a cold virus from an inactive flu virus?

washing your hands is number 1. don't touch your mouth and nose, and no food sharing/touching. hand round tissues to folk in the office. No need for alcohol wipes!!

No need for alcohol wipes!!

You go shopping and touch a trolley that's been handled by who knows. You handle the packaging that's been touched by shop workers with a potential virus and continue to the till. You touch your wallet and car keys in paying for and transporting your goods to your vehicle. You get home and touch your house keys and door handles, cupboards, fridge etc. all the time avoiding touching your eyes, nose or mouth but potentially spreading an unseen contaminate pretty much everywhere you've been. At what point would an antiseptic or alcohol wipe be ineffective at controlling that spread?

Edit : Or even eradicating it from the surfaces you've touched.

[i]You go shopping and touch a trolley that's been handled by who knows. You handle the packaging that's been touched by shop workers with a potential virus and continue to the till. You touch your wallet and car keys in paying for and transporting your goods to your vehicle. You get home and touch your house keys and door handles, cupboards, fridge etc. all the time avoiding touching your eyes, nose or mouth but potentially spreading an unseen contaminate pretty much everywhere you've been. At what point would an antiseptic or alcohol wipe be ineffective at controlling that spread? [/i]

Didn't realise that Howard Hughes was on STW? 😯

Teasel... You have a medical condition there I think..

Err, are trips to the shops your only contact with the outside world?

just wash your hands, and don't touch your face. Can't remember that last cold I had (maybe a year ago?), but I don't use alcohol wipes.

but look, if you're content to carry on, don't worry about it. If it works for you...

My main strategy to avoid a cold is to avoid travelling on trains or planes. Quite obvious really but all the colds I've had this year have been acquired (I assume) on one of these.

I'm another [i]odd[/i] one that uses antibacterial wipes or gels when i can, a quick wipe of the basket handle or trolley handle every time as the hygiene standards of some folk leaves a lot to be desired, never touch door handles etc - you see folk stuffing crap into their faces then they go and smear their greasy **** fingers all over everything without a thought (i doubt they have a thought in their heads anyway).

An example : I work in a food enviroment as a chocolatier, leading up to xmas every packer in the place had a cold/runny nose at some point yet they continued to blow their nose and stuff the snot ridden rag into their pocket and carry on working without washing their hands, very rarely do they wash their hands after going to the toilet (it's a small work place so i know this) yet they have all done the basic food hygiene courses so are aware of the risks but in reality they are all in the hanging lower jaw of the intelligence spectrum, plenty of other hygiene cock-ups but these are the worst - despite my best efforts i caught the lurgy that has laid me out totally over xmas/new year so i'll be doubling my efforts when i decide to go back to work, I'm meant to be back Monday but **** that - i'm taking a week off to do stuff i had planned for the xmas/new year break.

I think I've got it 🙁

Tickly throat last night, today I feel like I've been run over

Was eating OK this morning and early afternoon, but been feeling nauseous too this afternoon

Just drank some juice and brought it back up

Anyone else spewed with flu /bad cold?

But somafunk, if you are teasel are correct, then the rest of us should be bags of snot almost continually...but yet we're not.

never touch door handles

You must be an angry cop, with a partner due for retirement and a boss with an explosive temper. In the real world it is considered impolite to kick down doors.

Err, are trips to the shops your only contact with the outside world?

🙂

I simply use it as an example because I believe it's the most common place to contract a virus etc. As I wrote earlier, I have daily contact with a small handful of people and I can control that a lot easier than, say, a work place where there's a hundred odd people to cope with.

And yes, I'm fully aware of my 'medical condition', thanks. In fact some folk from these shores can tell of my dislike of shaking hands and my way around that awkward and unhygienic social interaction.