Cold and flu season is back
Posted Oct 5, 2010 12:11 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The arrival of fall also ushers in a new cold and flu season.
Starting next week, people can line up for a flu shot.
According to Alberta Health Services, the best way to reduce your odds of getting a cold or flu is, of course, regular hand-washing. It’s difficult to avoid catching one bug or another in the coming months because people are social creatures and human contact means sharing more than good times.
Dr. Judy MacDonald with AHS tells 660News with some 200 different cold viruses out there, isolation is probably the only way to keep from picking one up.
“People transmit from themselves to somebody else when they cough or sneeze or if they’re touching something and they have the virus on their hands. Someone comes along and touches that same item and then touches their nose or their mouth, and that’s how things get transmitted,” says MacDonald.
Over the counter medications do help people deal with their cold symptoms, but there is still no cure.
MacDonald recommends people stay home and get plenty of rest and drink plenty of liquids.
