by Susan Bullard, M.D.
Flu, colds, ear infections, RSV and pneumonia... it’s the season for sick days! What can you do to keep your family healthy? The simple things are usually the most effective.
Keep Your Distance
These infections spread by germs in the fluids from your nose and lungs. When someone is coughing or sneezing, they’re spreading germs, so keep your distance – at least 3 to 6 feet.
Wash Your Hands
The germs can also be spread by hand to hand contact, so wash your hands frequently – especially if you’ve shaken hands with someone – and keep your hands away from your nose, mouth and eyes.
This is obviously hard to teach small children, so make sure they wash their hands frequently, especially if they’ve been around anyone who’s sick or getting sick.
Don’t Share
Colds and flu can be spread by an infected person even a day or two before they start feeling sick themselves – and by someone who’s feeling better for up to a week or two. Don’t share utensils, cups, food or drink. Cleaning surfaces that people touch frequently can help prevent the spread of disease.
Stick with Healthy Habits
We all know that one person in a family can stay healthy when everyone else gets sick. So what is it that makes the difference? Keeping your immune system healthy depends on keeping your whole body healthy. Make sure your family members are getting enough sleep. Eat a healthy diet, especially making sure you’re getting those five daily servings of fruits and vegetables, which have lots of natural substances to boost your immune system. Drink plenty of water.
Get Vaccinated
The single most important thing you can do to stay healthy in the winter is to get flu shots for everyone in the family. Flu shots aren’t perfect, so if one person in the family brings the flu home, the others (even if they got their flu shot) are more likely to pick it up with such close contact. But if the whole family gets their flu shots, the chances go way down that anyone will catch the flu.
Make sure the rest of your kids’ immunizations are up to date also. As recently as the 1980s, we knew we would see unfortunate children with bacterial meningitis during the winter months, and some of them would die. Since then the HIB, Prevnar and meningococcal vaccines have almost wiped out these terrible illnesses, but they can still come back in unvaccinated children.
A few special rules apply to infants during the first few months of life, who are susceptible to severe effects from flu or RSV.
Stay away from large gatherings of people – don’t let people touch your baby’s face – and completely avoid people who are sick, even if it’s a family member.
Breast feeding as long as possible gives your baby antibodies that help prevent illness.
Air quality can also affect your chances of getting sick. Don’t smoke – and don’t let anyone smoke in your house or around your child.
Use a cool mist humidifier if the air in your house is dry from heating it during the winter.
No one can escape all the illnesses that winter brings, but these tips may help cut down the number and severity of the ones your family has to endure.