What do you do when a family member gets a virus? (allergies, flu shots)
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My husband came down with a nasty cold Christmas Eve. I started a regimen of various immune boosters and zinc lozenges, but I came down with it anyway. Fortunately mine seems to be very mild, but I’m wondering what other measures I could have taken. I washed my hands a lot and avoided drinking after him. Unfortunately, we are are in the middle of a master bath remodel so we're sharing the guest bed and bath.
How do you survive a family viral event?
Well, if you can, get immunized. However, several people at work got the flu shot and got the flu. But I also got the flu (no shot) and we all suffered two weeks. Sometimes, the shot you get, ain't the one you need it seems...
Short of staying away from them and wearing a mask...
My husband brought sickness home from work and I got it and had it for 5 weeks almost 6 . this was a virus and am finally over it . I still cant believe I was so sick . I hope to never have anything like this again . So you just stand in line and wait your turn because you will get it . As someone else said stand in line .
Well, if you can, get immunized. However, several people at work got the flu shot and got the flu. But I also got the flu (no shot) and we all suffered two weeks. Sometimes, the shot you get, ain't the one you need it seems...
Short of staying away from them and wearing a mask...
There's no immunization against a cold. A cold is not the same as a flu.
When someone with a common cold (rhinovirus) coughs or sneezes, the bugs are aerosolized and spread around the room. The tiny secretions dry there and you pick them up on your fingers by touching that surface, then inadvertently inject them into your mouth, nose or eye with that finger. Infected people are spreading those bugs around for several days before they show symptoms, so it's pretty hard to avoid contact in the household.
The best course is to go ahead and suffer the cold while you're younger & healthier so that you'll be immune to that strain when you're older & less healthy & maybe not able to survive it.
Various supplements like Vit C or Zn have been shown to have some statistically significant, but clinically insignificant effects in shortening the course. Even Tamiflu for influenza has only been shown to shorten the course of the 10 day illness by 6 hrs (BFD).
There is anecdotal evidence that is theoretically plausible that raising your body temp (hot drinks, soups, bundling up and "sweating it out") can significantly shorten the duration & severity of the symptomatic period. That's why part of our immune response is to run a fever. It apparently helps fight the infection.
My suggestions -
If you have multiple bathrooms, the sick person gets their own.
The sick person keeps mainly to one part of the house, the health people to the other parts.
Surgical masks can help.
Wash your hands religiously.
I'm not a fan of hand sanitizers because they encourage superbugs, imo. But if you really CANNOT get sick (immunosuppressed or required activities you cannot opt out of), they are useful.
But in my experience, people are contagious before they show symptoms, and most people are not that contagious when they're in the middle or on the tail end of things. My best friend is a public health researcher and this is what she has told me, and what makes sense from my observations.
I got my cold from my father - stayed away and found out he had actually gotten sick before me. We had spent a lot of time together at doctor's offices. I'm coughing up a storm right now, but my cold is gone. It's all post nasal drip causing the problems. The main issue is that I'm kind of vulnerable to infection, and if I have been exposed to anything lately, I'm likely spraying it whenever I'm hit by a sudden coughing attack. So I'm avoiding the nursing home right now.
I'm taking 2000 mg vitamin c daily, plus a ton of prescribed antihistamines and breathing meds, so that masks symptoms when I catch a cold. I can tell I have one, but my husband doesn't notice, so I don't bother to tell him. If he knows I've got a cold, he'll start popping Sudafed like candy and blaming me for every little tickle in his throat.
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