Dealing with the Common Cold

The temperatures are getting a bit colder as we near the end
of November – but the common cold is also becoming a concern for schools and
workplaces. There are plenty of ways to prevent yourself from catching the
cold, and Fond du Lac
County
Health Officer Kim
Mueller tells us to remember the basics of what we learned about staying
healthy. 

She reminds everyone to “frequently
wash your hands. If you’re going to be sneezing, sneeze into your elbow instead
of sneezing on your hand that you would then use to shake somebody’s hand or to
touch different surfaces. We can work on those good little tips as adults but
it’s important to teach our kids those same things.”

If you’re not sick, Mueller recommends trying to avoid anyone who might be out there spreading germs. 

She says to “stay away from people who are sick, you
don’t know what kind of virus they are sick with – it could be influenza or it
could be that common cold virus. So just stay away from people who are sick,
making sure you stay home when you aren’t feeling well and make sure you don’t
send your kiddos to school when they’re not feeling well. Because if you’re in
crowds of people and you’re not feeling well, chances are that in a few days
they’re also not going to feel well because they picked up whatever you had.”

It’s also difficult to make an immediate distinction about what illness you may have. Mueller says the symptoms of the common cold and influenza can start off feeling fairly similar. 

She tells us getting sick is all too common, and “interestingly enough, every year, adults have two to three colds. Obviously
children probably have even more, and spreading-wise – you spread them very
similar as well. You reduce the spread just the same. The only problem with
that common cold is that you don’t have that vaccine that we have for the
influenza virus.”

For anyone that does end up getting sick, there are a number of different remedies out there. But Mueller says
they all generally lead to the same thing. 

She preaches that it’s important to make efforts to help yourself, and “if you
take care of your body and get plenty of rest and drink plenty of fluids, a lot
of times the colds could – tomorrow morning you could wake up and it might be
all better – or it might take a couple more days before your body works its way
through all the different symptoms.”