Sunday, October 25, 2009

H1N1

It may be impossible to avoid contact with H1N1 (the piggy flu) or with at least some flu virus this year. But you can avoid allowing the virus to proliferate enough to cause disease. Keep in mind the pathways for the germs to enter your body are the nose and mouth, and keep in mind these six preventative outdoor and/or indoor steps:
1. Wash your hands often (and if you haven't gotten that message, you are from off-world).
2. Keep your hands off your face unless you are eating or bathing (and wash your hands before eating).
3. Gargle twice a day to rinse out germs that might have entered your mouth. Listerine works fine, but so does warm, salty water.
4. Blow your nose at least once a day. A quick swabbing with salt-water-soaked cotton would be even better.
5. Get enough vitamin C via fresh fruits and veggies and/or supplements.
6. Drink plenty of warm fluids, such as coffee and tea, every day. It's sort of like gargling in reverse. Flu germs in your mouth are flushed into your tummy where they cannot survive.

1 comment:

Michael Bresnahan said...

To add to the swabbing with salt-water I found a neti pot flush with salt water once or twice a day works great