Beating back the unstoppable flu
Like death, taxes and shrill TV
anchors, flu viruses appear to be unstoppable this season. These viruses, as we
all know, are evil beyond belief and strike people only on weekends, holidays
or on weekdays when it’s impossible to stay home.
This partly explains why everyone
around is sniffing, coughing and complaining of pain in unmentionable parts.
People with the flu should stay home for at least 24 hours after their fever
has abated without the use of fever-reducing medicines, recommends the World
Health Organisation, but infected people — which appears to be every third
person around — don’t seem to have the brains or the option to stay in bed and
sleep off the symptoms. So we all have friends, classmates, colleagues and
strangers sneezing in our faces or unwittingly touching tables, doorknobs and
keyboards with snot-laced hands that infect and sicken.
Almost everything we touch is a
flutrap. Flu viruses are super infectious and can survive on surfaces for
between two and eight hours, and the bacteria for up to 24 hours.
If you touch an infected phone or
keyboard, 30% of the germs on it end up on your fingertips, from where they go
into your eyes, mouth or nose to cause all sorts of infections, reported a
study in the Journal of Applied
Microbiology. The same goes for
tabletops and books that have been touched by an infected person or persons who
sneezed or coughed and forgot to clean their hands.
The result is almost always you
collapsing with fever just before a vacation or a deadline that could make or
break your career.
Humidity — like bacteria, viruses
need at least 10% humidity to survive — and warmth provide ideal conditions for
them to grow and multiply. Add to that things they can feed on — skin cells,
blood or mucus — and the germs thrive, which is why the wet kitchen sponge is a
favourite haunt, as are electronic devices such as cellphones, keyboards and
hair- and handdryers, because of the heat they generate. Experts recommend
cleaning hard surfaces, including your cellphone, with anti-bacterial wipes at
least a couple of times a week.
Gyms are the other hotbeds for
infection, because of the shared equipment and showers, coupled with the
temporarily lowered resistance of the people working out. All gyms provide
towels to wipe down equipment after use, but in this weather, it may be a smart
idea to wipe them before use too.
Take two hand-towels for every
workout, one for your body and the other to wipe the machines. Carry your own
yoga mat, as using one with someone else’s sweat and germs on it is a bad idea.
Take your own water bottle too, so that you can avoid the water fountain, which
is again a place where germs and viruses thrive.
Infection also thrives in shared
swimming pools, including the ones with hi-tech filtration systems that appear
clean and chlorinated. It is amazing how even people who only eat salad washed
in mineral water and use filtered water to brush their teeth forget all about
germ-infestation when it comes to swimming pools.
The pre-swim shower — so essential
to wash away sweat (which, like urea, contains ammonia and ureum), cosmetics,
dirt and pollutants is often ignored by swimmers, which results in all the muck
from skin surfaces — food for viruses and bacteria — ending up in pools. Since
too much disinfectant and chlorine also causes eye irritation, eczema and
rashes, swim only in pools where the water is clear enough for you to see your
toes while standing in it.
Because, once you’ve got it, there’s
little you can do about the flu except pop medicines to bring down the fever.
Cough and cold medicines containing decongestants, antihistamines (antiallergy
medicines) and antitussives (cough suppressants) are ineffective.
If you want to help your body fight
the flu, drink warm liquids instead. Also, viruses are best battled from the
comfort of your bed. So do yourself and everyone else a favour and stay home.
- Sanchita Sharma,HT1304804
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