Health Tips for Preventing the Flu and Colds

February 25, 2008 Your health Comments Off
Health Tips for Preventing the Flu and ColdsThe best way to prevent seasonal flu is to get vaccinated each year, but good health habits can help prevent any illness including colds.

Avoid close contact.
Try and limit your exposure to infected people. Sometimes people are infected and they don’t even know it because they haven’t experienced symptoms yet.

Stay home when you are sick.
If possible, try and stay home when you are sick. This will help prevent others from getting sick.

Cover your mouth and nose.
Always cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or use the bend in your arm when coughing or sneezing. It will help prevent those around you from catching your cold.

Keep your hands clean.
Wash your hands often with warm soapy water and avoid touching you mouth, nose and eyes. Colds can be passed through coughing, sneezing, and touching of contaminated surfaces.

Practice other good health habits.
Eating a balanced diet, drinking plenty of water, exercising and getting enough sleep helps your immune system stay strong.

  

Health Tips for Cold and Flu Self-Care

Get enough rest.

Try to get 8-10 hours of sleep when you are not feeling well. Your body needs rest to fight the cold or flu virus and recover and repair itself.

Drink enough fluids.

Drinking 6-8 glasses of fluid (water, juice, soup) per day, especially warm liquids, will help keep you hydrated, reduce fever, and loosen congestion. Avoid alcohol as alcohol lowers the body’s ability to fight infection.

Soothe your throat.

Gargle with warm salt water (1/4-1/2 tsp. salt per 8 oz. warm water) and use hard candies, lozenges or cough drops to soothe a sore or dry throat.

Reduce congestion.

Breathe the steam from a shower and run a cool mist vaporizer to loosen or reduce nasal congestion. Salt water nose drops are also effective at breaking up and removing nasal secretions.

Relieve symptoms.

No over-the-counter medicine can cure a cold or the flu. Medicine can, however, help relieve some of your cold or flu symptoms. If you have questions, talk to your doctor or pharmacist.
Never take left-over or old antibiotics. Antibiotics do not kill cold or flu viruses and they do not help ease cold and flu symptoms. Never take someone else’s medicine.

MRSA and Staph infections: News From the Health Center

October 20, 2007 Your health Comments Off

From Marsha Glose, Director of Health Services:

Due to the recent news coverage about MRSA, I have received many questions regarding MRSA and staph infections.  This problem is not really new and there have been a few cases appearing on campuses in the area for about the past two years. For more information, please visit: http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dhqp/ar_mrsa.html.  The following information applies to both Staph and MRSA.

Staphylococcus aureus or MRSA infectiont is Staphylococcus

Staph is a type of bacteria. It may cause skin infections that look like pimples or boils. Sometimes it is mistaken for a spider bite. Skin infections caused by Staph may be red, swollen, painful, or have pus or other drainage. Some Staph (known as Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus or MRSA) are resistant to certain antibiotics, making it harder to treat.

Anyone can get a Staph infection. People are more likely to get a Staph infection if they have:

  • Skin-to-skin contact with someone who has a Staph infection
  • Contact with items and surfaces that have Staph on them
  • Openings in their skin such as cuts or scrapes
  • Crowded living conditions
  • Poor hygiene are infections?

Most Staph skin infections are minor and may be easily treated. Staph also may cause more serious infections, such as infections of the bloodstream, surgical sites, or pneumonia. Sometimes, a Staph infection that starts as a skin infection may worsen. It is important to contact your doctor if your infection does not get better.reated?

Treatment for a Staph skin infection may include taking an antibiotic or having a doctor drain the infection. If you are given an antibiotic, be sure to take all of the doses, even if the infection is getting better, unless your doctor tells you to stop taking it. Do not share antibiotics with other people or save them to use later.  Some ways to prevent a Staph skin infection include: How do I from spreading?

- Wash your hands often or use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer

- Keep your cuts and scrapes clean and cover them with bandages

- Do not touch other people’s cuts or bandages

- Do not share personal items like towels or razors

 ~Contact Marsha Glose, Director of Health Services at mglose@medaille.edu