One Foot on a Banana Peel

For colds and flu, that is.  I work around kids and let’s face it, cute as they are, they are big ol’ walking piles of germs.  There’s a kind of acceptance among bus drivers that we get a cold in September and it stays with us the rest of the year.  It just changes in degree of illness from "I’m miserable, but I can drive" to "I’m going to have to feel better to die."  Knock on wood, I’ve pretty much missed out on all the fun the last three years.  I give credit to a couple of things…vitamin C tablets taken every day once school starts, a flu shot, keeping antibacterial tissues on the bus for the kids, and when I do get a cold I start sucking on Coldeze lozenges right away (they really do shorten a cold and lessen the severity).

I figure this is a subject everyone’s interested in so here’s a few things I found out on the subject.

• Cold viruses are spread via hands when we touch something or someone then touch our mouth, nose or eyes.
• Flu viruses are airborne.  An unprotected sneeze launches the little buggers at up to 200 mph for a distance of 3 feet.  The flu virus can live outside a host for more than 24 hours.
• Colds and the flu are viral infections.  Antibiotics won’t do any good unless you get a secondary bacterial infection like bronchitis or an ear infection.
• Colds are contagious for as long as you have the symptoms.  The flu can be contagious 24 hours before symptoms appear and up to 10 days afterward.
• Prevention is the name of the game…wash your hands (a lot), cover your nose and mouth when you sneeze or cough, use disposable tissues not cloth hankies, don’t share drinks or utensils, keep your hands away from your face and think about getting a flu shot if you’re in a high risk job or your health situation warrants it.

Get more info at FluFACTS.