Giving Flu the Cold Shoulder

I couldn’t believe it. I spotted a former colleague I hadn’t seen in years across the room at a conference. I started toward him, a smile rushing across my face as we made eye contact. But just before I reached him, his head jerked backward and then forward with a loud “Ah-choo!” After sneezing into his hand, he reached out that same hand to shake mine. (I declined.)

How risky is it to shake a freshly sneezed-upon hand? Join me on a tour of Web sites about the flu and the common cold to find out.

Nearly everyone will get at least one cold this winter. And according to the Food and Drug Administration, 10,000 to 20,000 people die each year from complications of the flu. On these sites you can find out how viruses are to blame, how long the flu virus can linger in the air and what you can do to feel better.

Wellness Sites

Alternative remedies are hot lately, so let’s go to the WellnessWeb (https://www.wellweb.com) to check some out. Skeptical about the role of food, vitamins and nutrition in preventing colds and flu? Consider what the celebrated physician Charles Mayo had to say: “Adequate food is the cradle of normal resistance, the playground of normal immunity, the workshop of good health and the laboratory of long life.”

An article by Michael Biamante, director of the New York Center for Clinical Nutrition (https://www.wellweb.com/ALTERN/Diseases/colds.htm), will tell you which agents help keep a virus from multiplying (echinacea, vitamins C, B-5 and B-3, potassium, magnesium, phosphorus and zinc) and which ones have antibacterial effects (copper, vitamin D, calcium lactate).

A popular source on alternative medicine is bestselling author Dr. Andrew Weil (https://www.drweil.com). In Weil’s herbal medicine chest for winter, you’ll find unorthodox allies in your fight against colds and flu such as slippery elm, garlic, ginger, echinacea and peppermint.

Government Sites

Prefer to get your information from Uncle Sam? An article on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s site (https://www.fda.gov/fdac/features 896_flu.html) says cold viruses can be transmitted in two ways: touching or inhaling.

In other words, you can get a virus by touching cough or sneeze residue on a person’s skin (shaking hands, for example) or by touching a surface with such residue (such as a doorknob or a handrail) and then touching your own eyes, nose or mouth. And inhaling infectious particles (secretions from a cough or sneeze) in the air can infect you.

Brush up on the basics at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Web pages at https://www.niaid.nih.gov/factsheets/cold.htm and https://www.niaid.nih.gov/factsheets/flu.htm. Turns out there are 200 or more cold viruses, causing about 1 billion colds in the U.S. annually. They’ll make you sneeze and have a scratchy throat and a runny nose.

In most people, the cold is over in a week. But occasionally it will lead to a secondary bacterial infection. The flu is a more serious viral disease. Symptoms are a headache, chills and a dry cough, followed by body aches and fever, then a stuffy nose and a sore throat.

Need a quick reference to differentiate your symptoms? The institute’s handy chart (https://www.niaid.nih.gov/publications/cold/sick.htm) will help you identify your attacker so you can prepare your defense. The chart also gives treatment and prevention options.

And what about flu shots? Take heed--the government thinks they’re so important that Medicare pays for them. Participants can find out how to get a free flu shot at https://www.medicare.gov/wellness/flu.html.

Flu shots aren’t just for seniors, of course. Several sites will tell you to get one also if you are a health care worker; a child care provider; a child or a teenager who must often take aspirin; in a household with a premature baby; or if you have asthma, HIV or heart disease. And there’s still time to get a shot to prevent the flu this winter.

There you have it--my justification for being germ-conscious. Colds and flus can cost a lot in terms of both time and money. I try my best to wash my hands, and when I sneeze or cough, I use a tissue and throw it away.

And, like Donald Trump, I avoid shaking hands, even at the risk of offending people. As I told my old friend: “Sorry, but I really can’t afford to get sick.” As of the middle of this month, the flu had already hit 37 states, including California. So please excuse me while I wipe off my office door handle.

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* Cathy K. Purcell contributed to this article.

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* Your Health Online runs on the first and third Mondays of the month.

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Marla Bolotsky can be reached by e-mail at marla.bolotsky@latimes.com.