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Flu season is right around the corner. Taking a few preventive steps now can help protect you, your family, and your community and lower the spread of the virus. Here are our top five tips for doing just that.
Every fall and winter, millions of Americans catch influenza, or the flu. The highly contagious upper respiratory illness usually causes mild to moderate symptoms, but for infants, older adults, and the immunocompromised, it can be deadly.
Even if you aren’t at risk for the most severe symptoms, the fever, body aches, and chills that come with the flu can make you miserable for days, so it makes sense to protect yourself.
At OG Health in Greenwood Village, Colorado, concierge medicine physician Oswaldo "Ozzie" A. Grenardo, MD, MBA, MSHA, FAAFP, regularly counsels patients on flu prevention. Here, he presents his five top tips for staying healthy all season long.
1. Get your annual flu shot
Making time to get an annual flu shot may seem like a hassle, but it’s one of the best decisions you can make. Research shows it can lower your flu risk by up to 60%. Even if you end up catching the flu, getting vaccinated can reduce the severity and duration of the illness, since it teaches your immune system how to defend against the most prominent strains that season.
Dr. Ozzie encourages anyone 6 months and older to get a flu shot. This is especially true for older adults, young children, and anyone with underlying medical issues, like diabetes or heart disease.
2. Practice good hand hygiene
During the winter months, high-touch surfaces like doorknobs, elevator buttons, and grocery cart handles are home to hundreds of thousands of germs, including the flu virus. Touching these surfaces is often unavoidable, so it’s important to wash your hands regularly.
Whenever you come in contact with germs, wash with soap and warm water for at least 20 seconds. If that’s not an option, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer. Until you can wash, avoid touching your mouth, eyes, and nose.
3. Strengthen your immune system
Healthy habits can strengthen your immune system and lower your risk of catching the flu.
We recommend eating a nutritious diet with fruits, vegetables, and lean proteins, exercising regularly, and getting quality sleep. For example, foods with vitamin C, vitamin D, and zinc may help reduce the severity or duration of flu symptoms. Getting seven to nine hours of sleep each night gives your body time to produce infection-fighting cytokines and antibodies, which can help keep you healthy.
4. Stock up on essentials
Sometimes, preventive measures aren’t enough to keep you from catching the flu. Stocking your pantry with sick-day essentials can ensure you’re ready if you do get sick. Keep tissues, hand sanitizer, lozenges, and over-the-counter (OTC) cleaning supplies on hand. It’s also helpful to have snacks and drinks, like canned soup and herbal tea. Other items to include in your flu kit include a thermometer, OTC fever reducers, and menthol patches or creams to help relieve congestion so you can breathe more comfortably.
5. Keep your living space clean
Doorknobs, kitchen counters, remote controls, and stair railings are touched hundreds, if not thousands of times each day. If you or a family member is contagious, the flu virus can remain on these surfaces and spread easily.
Since the flu can live for up to 48 hours on certain materials, make an effort to keep these areas clean. Spray them down with a disinfectant spray, like Lysol, or use cleaning wipes to disinfect them.
Schedule your annual flu shot
Flu season might be coming, but that doesn’t mean you have to get sick. Taking preventive steps can support your immune system and help keep you healthy throughout the fall and winter. If you’d like to schedule your annual flu shot, contact us by calling 303-625-7976 or booking your appointment online today. Telemedicine appointments are also available.