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Fortify Your Household for the Cold and Flu Season

Cold and flu viruses are some of the most widespread and adaptable pathogens nature can throw at us. Like common criminals, they prey on the oblivious and unprepared. It's impossible to avoid them completely, but you can arm your family with the tools they need to succeed in nature's "germ warfare."

Routine Reconnaissance

Cold and flu germs spread mostly through sneezing, coughing, and contaminated surfaces. In general, they are more frequently transmitted from nonporous surfaces. Here's how to protect yourself and your family:
  • Issue tissues: Sneezing spreads germs quickly. Give your family members tissues to carry with them, and stash boxes or travel packs in key places: kitchen, bathrooms, bedrooms, glove boxes, backpacks, and purses. For extra care, check out Puffs® Plus® with the Scent of Vicks®.

  • Secure the hot spots: Once a day, use an antibacterial wipe to disinfect the hard surfaces that everyone in your home touches frequently: faucet handles, doorknobs, phones, countertops, keyboards, and remote controls.

  • Keep your hands clean: Hand-to-hand and hand-to-surface contact are two of the most common ways to spread viruses. Hand washing is ideal, but get bottles of hand sanitizer for places far from sinks: the car, your desk at work, the garage, and the basement.


Support the Troops

  • First aid: Cold and flu germs usually enter the body through the nose, mouth, or eyes, but cuts or abrasions give viruses another route of entry. Treat them with antiseptic and apply a fresh bandage quickly.

  • Separate rations: Avoid serving foods communally, and pour snacks into individual containers rather than reaching into the bag.

  • Shot in the arm: If possible, have your family get flu shots, ideally in early fall, and especially the young (6 months to 19 years), those older than 50, pregnant women, and anyone with a compromised immune system.1


Food Fight

Eating well is always a smart idea, of course, but it takes on a special importance during cold and flu season. Your immune system is your last chance to kill viruses before you get sick, and how immune you are depends greatly on what you eat. Stock up on these potent allies:
  • Zinc: Vital for a healthy immune system. Get 9 to 11 mg a day from lean beef, fortified cereal, yogurt, or milk.2

  • Vitamin C: It won't cure a cold, but vitamin C can help blunt its effects. Aim for 500 mg a day.

  • Tea with honey: Contains antiviral polyphenols and more antioxidants than fruit. Honey, itself high in antioxidants, can help soothe sore throats.

  • Chicken soup: The old folk remedy has a genuine therapeutic effect on symptoms and speeds recovery.3

  • Elderberries: High in vitamin C, they also have antiviral properties that help fight cancer. Sambucol, an elderberry extract, appears to be effective in treating (but not preventing) the flu.4


1 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Key Facts About Seasonal Flu Vaccine.
2 Tufts University E-News. Study: Zinc Boosts Immunity in Elderly.
3 University of Nebraska Medical Center. Mother Approved, Doctor Tested.
4 Inhibition of Several Strains of Influenza Virus in Vitro and Reduction of Symptoms by an Elderberry Extract. Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. Dec 1995.