As the holiday season approaches, more people are susceptible to coming down with colds, flu and other infectious diseases. The daily schedules we have to maintain everyday, and coming into contact with lots of people, put us into situations where we are venerable to being infected. Most of these infections are quite common place and you’ll have to get bed rest on top of taking some over the counter medication if infected. We usually find it’s quite difficult to guard against these illnesses as the carrier usually shows no sign of symptoms when you come in contact.
There are however relief measures you can take to ensure it doesn’t disrupt your winter holiday plans if you are struck by one of these:
Common cold – You are venerable to getting this if near someone who sneezes and could come down as early as the next day. You could even contact strep throat as a consequence also. To reduce your chances of getting infected, try and wash your hands before and after meals. Don’t touch any part of your body like your nose, mouth, or eyes, before cleaning your hands also. Encourage your family and friends at home to use a disposable tissue when sneezing not their hands.
Cough – Try to avoid coming into direct contact when someone coughs, and try also to encourage them to close their mouths too, to prevent further spreading of germs. Chesty coughs and dry coughs can be relieved by taking medication from off the counter. Also choose depending on what type of cough it is.
Blocked nose – To relieve a blocked nose decongestants are taken orally or through the nose and can be bought in the local Chemists shops.
Fever – When you do start to feel feverish, the best relief option to take is lie down and let the fever take it’s course, whilst keeping your fluid intake up.
Stomach bug – One of the best courses of action is to keep your personal hygiene up. Wash hands with soap when you are done using the toilet. If it happens to be diarrhea, be careful of dehydration. Take lots of fluids and antibiotics if severe symptoms start to show.
If any of these symptoms persist over time, consult your doctor immediately. He may have to carry out an ultrasound or MRI scan to see what is going on. Do not forget also to be up to date on all your immunisations and flu shots to keep your defenses and immune system up over the winter holidays.