Dr. Oz gives tips and suggestions on how to avoid catching the H1N1 virus this season.
Artwork by Rebecca Holt
It comes every year: the dreadful flu season. This year, with the new H1N1 strand making its rounds throughout the US, the risks are even higher than before that Americans will get sick. Luckily, TV show host Dr. Oz and those in other health professions have suggestions on how to avoid flu contamination this year.
First, it’s vital to wash hands as frequently as possible. One of the main sources of transportation for bacteria is through physical contact, usually from hands or other appendages. “It’s really scary how rarely teens and even adults wash their hands. It was first taught to us how important washing your hands is in elementary school, so everyone should have it down by now,” said TJ Senior Alexandra Clark.
If you can’t make that quick trip to the bathroom to sanitize your hands, make sure they do not come in contact with your face. The “hands-off-the-face” approach is a strategy that could ultimately prevent the flu from entering the body.
If by chance the body is infected, H1N1 takes 2-3 days after initial infection in the throat/nasal cavity to proliferate and show characteristic symptoms, and simply gargling with salt water twice a day can prevent the virus from spreading. It’s a simple, yet very effective trick that can keep you healthy.
In the same category, cleaning out the nostrils at least once a day with a cotton swab dipped in salt water is very effective in bringing down the viral population. So if rinsing the nasal cavity with a neti pot (device for cleansing the sinuses) just isn’t your cup of tea, try this trick to help increase your chances of staying healthy this season.
Eating right is another strategy people can use to stay healthy and reap other benefits simultaneously. Boosting your natural immunity with foods that are rich in Vitamin C is the best way to get started on a healthy path, and a preventative one at that. If finding a good source of Vitamin C seems to be an obstacle, tablets make good supplements, but make sure that they also have Zinc to boost absorption, as well.
One last effective approach students can take to help stay away from sickness this year is to drink as much warm liquids (tea, coffee, etc) as you can. Drinking warm liquids has a similar effect to gargling, but in the reverse direction. The liquids wash the viruses down the throat and into the stomach where survival is impossible and immediately eliminate the option of proliferation.
If these tactics are used before infection actually occurs, the chance of staying healthy this flu season increases greatly. No longer do Americans have to dread the winter months and the nuisance bacteria that come along with them.
