You can greatly reduce your chances of getting the flu (the influenza virus) and Covid-19, if you do catch the flu, greatly reduce the time and suffering involved in having it.
As a reminder, you cannot catch the cold, flu, coronavirus, or any other disease, by being cold or wet or sleep-deprived, though those could weaken your immune system. You can only catch the disease by being exposed to it.
You are most likely to catch a cold, flu, or coronavirus from someone you are close to: family, friends, co-workers, co-congregants, classmates, etc. In turn, you are most likely to infect those you are closest to. This is where public health epidemiology meets public sociology.
As Dr. Martin Luther King said, “We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny.” Each of us who avoids getting sick helps prevent other people from getting sick and vice versa.
Here are 16 key techniques to keep you at ease instead of dis-ease:
1. Get any Covid-19 vaccine whenever you are able to;
2. Get the annual flu shot. Despite its imperfections, it is very safe, cannot give you the flu, and significantly ups your odds of staying flu-free.
3. Take Tamiflu at the first sign of flu to reduce the severity and length of it;
4. Consume probiotics (e.g., sauerkraut, kimchi, miso, yogurt, sourdough, kombucha) to help fight what attacks you;
5. Consume (raw) garlic, raw honey, turmeric, apple cider vinegar, and/or ginger for their virus-fighting properties;
6. Drink huge amounts of water, tea, juice, and/or soup to flush your system and replenish your fluids; Hippocrates also recommended oat broth;
7. Eat a clean, healthy, unprocessed plant-based diet for maximum health;
8. Vitamin C in megadoses has been shown to reduce symptoms by 85%; Vitamin D might also be useful;
9. Zinc may or may not help, but it definitely won’t hurt;
10. Rest and get as much sleep as possible;
11. Get a little exercise to boost your immune system;
12. Meditate on being well and visualize health;
13. Don’t catch it from or spread it to others, so stay in when you can and wear a face mask when you’re out (perhaps two masks and a face shield in certain situations), stay away from crowds, maintain physical distance, avoid anyone who may be ill, wash your hands often and thoroughly, use hand sanitizer when you cannot wash, don’t touch your mouth, nose, or eyes unless your hands are clean, cough and sneeze into your mask, tissues, or arm, and avoid touching commonly-touched items with your bare hands (and use tissues, sleeves, elbows, feet, etc. as an alternative, when possible);
14. Be grateful that it is not worse;
15. Believe you will get better;
16. Support public health and universal healthcare because we all protect each other.
We are all in it together, so take care of yourself and you will also be taking care of others in your communities. To our health!
Dan Brook, PhD teaches in the Department of Sociology and Interdisciplinary Social Sciences at San Jose State University. Dan has written many articles and free ebooks.
