The first preventive step is to get vaccinated. It is important to do that yearly. Because viruses can change as they mutate, the vaccinations one year may not be effective for the following year. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) determines which viruses will be most likely to be prevalent and most virulent or most pathogenic for people for any one season. People sometimes ask if you can get the flu from getting a flu vaccine. You cannot get the flu from getting a flu vaccine. Many studies have shown that the organisms are inactivated and cannot produce disease when you receive a vaccine. The most common side effect, if any, is a little soreness in the area of the arm that receives the vaccine. Secondly, washing hands. Viruses actually are killed by many detergents, disinfectants and even sunlight. Washing hands is very important wherever you go. Whenever you come in from going to the grocery store, riding public transportation, going to visit someone, especially if you’re visiting someone in the hospital, washing your hands to remove any possible virus is an easy way to prevent spread. It is true that viruses can survive for just a little while on surfaces, so if your hands touch a pen and someone else picks up the pen, and especially if they put the pen in their mouth or they touch their eyes or their nose, the virus could be contacted that way. Most of all, it is spread through droplet formation so the next way to prevent getting the illness is to try to stay away from people who are coughing and sneezing. People who have the illness are taught the lessons of cover the cough either with a handkerchief or the elbow and to clean your hands after coughing and sneezing.
