Did you know these top 10 facts about the flu and colds?
DID you know that the droplets of a sneeze can travel up to six feet and at speeds of up 100 miles per hour? Read on for more top facts about the flu and colds!
As instances of influenza increase across communities, the Dublin Midlands Hospital Group, which includes Tallaght Hospital, has reminded people to refrain from visiting hospitals if they or a close family member have flu like symptoms.
Number 10 for our top facts about the flu and colds: use tissues
The group has also stressed that most people, unless they are in a high risk group, will get better themselves at home, with advice, tips, information and videos available on the HSE’s website, www.undertheweather.ie.
They have also provided these top ten essential facts about the flu and colds, which drill home the importance of sneezing into a tissue!
Here are the top 10 facts about the flu and colds:
Antibiotics do not work on colds or flu; taking an antibiotic when it’s not needed can cause you some horrible side effects like nausea, diarrhoea and skin rashes.
Most adults have two to four colds a year; children can easily get six to 10.
A single cold or flu virus can have 16 million offspring within the course of a day – imagine the potential spread!
More than 200 viruses are responsible for the cold. The most common are called human rhinoviruses (HRV), and they cause up to 40% of all colds.
Rhinoviruses survive for three hours outside of the body, and can sometimes live for up to 48 hours on touchable surfaces, including everything from door knobs and counter tops to shopping trollies and light switches.
Colds are spread by touching an infected surface and then touching your nose, eyes or mouth; or inhaling virus-laden droplets in the air after an infected person sneezes or coughs.
While a person’s breath can travel 4.5 feet per second, droplets from a cough can travel at 50 miles per hour and droplets from a sneeze can travel (insert shudder here) at up to 100 miles per hour.
The droplets from a sneeze can spread for a distance of six feet; a single sneeze can spray 100,000 germs into the air … which is why you should keep a six-foot distance from a sneezing sick person!
The single best way to avoid getting a cold or flu, aside from becoming a hermit, is to wash your hands, A LOT, use soap and wash them in water for 30 seconds.
Make sure to cough into your elbow or better still a tissue then bin it and wash your hands.
Did we miss any other top facts about the flu and colds?
