ONE SIMPLE STEP COULD SAVE US FROM FLU

Our best protection against the flu is vaccination. However, due to the incredible speed that viruses that cause the flu or the common cold mutate, no vaccine is ever going to be 100 per cent effective. Public Health England says the flu vaccine is only effective in around 50 per cent of cases.

What else can we do to protect ourselves? The best thing is to avoid anyone who has the flu, which is easier said than done! Even if we are standing six-foot away, we are vulnerable to infection from someone coughing or sneezing droplets. If these droplets land in our nose, they can be inhaled into our lungs. The droplets also land on surfaces where the viruses survive and wait for at least 24 hours. We may brush the surface with our hand and now the viruses are on our fingers. They can’t get through our skin. Instead, they wait until we stick our finger up our nose or rub our eyes. And, bang, they’re in, multiplying at a fiendish rate.

The moral of the story is wash your hands, regularly. And consider getting vaccinated.