There has been a lot of concern about swine flu in the press of late and should it escalate it could be the first pandemic of a lifetime for many of us. It’s important to remember that currently the risk to our health in the UK remains low and the world has endured many pandemics over time (Spanish Flu (H1N1): 1918, Asian flu (H2N2): 1957 and the Hong Kong Flu (H3N2) 1968.) and the UK should be in a strong position to manage this should it escalate.

History has proven that the best way to halt a deadly virus is to keep infected people away from others. The best way to contain it is through isolation, hygiene and controlling large gatherings of people.

Washing your hands frequently, wearing a filtering mask, keeping doorknobs and surfaces clean and being careful about sneezing, spitting and coughing are all helpful in controlling the spread of nearly all infectious diseases.

There are some basics we can all do to protect ourself against swine flu.


What are the other day to day things we can to do help?

Staying fit and healthy

It’s important to remember that prevention is better than cure. A health body is in a stronger position to fight of infection. Here are a few ways to help stay healthy and fight infection through a flu season:

Build up your immune system

Eating right helps build a strong immune system, make sure you have a good balanced diet and take a quality multivitamin & mineral as part of your daily routine. If you exercise regularly or during a period cold and flu you may also like to compliment that with an added does of extra vitamin C. Remember you need to take these when you’re healthy; it’s too late when you start to feel the onset of a cold or flu. Echinature is also good but there is some research to suggest prolonged use may have a neutral or negative effect.

Cut down your alcohol consumption and make sure you get enough sleep! Reducing the consumption of alcohol can add a needed boost to your immune system; try reducing the amount you drink by swapping every second alcoholic drink with a glass of water. Enough sleep is also important – our bodies heal and recover from the day as we sleep.

Exercise

Exercise increases our health and fitness, but don’t overdo it. If you’re feeling unwell it’s better to rest until you’re better then start off slowly. If you’re cautious about visiting your local fitness centre then perhaps switch your cardio training to outside - take up running or cycling outdoors. Or try some workouts you can do at home. Create Yourself have a great range of works outs designed to be done at home. You can find out more from here. Don’t forget to tune in to Create Radio for your workout sound track and great fitness advice.

If your fitness centre has dirty equipment talk to the staff and insist it’s cleaned, or investigate the use of a private one-to-one studio with a personal trainer. Private studios are generally cleaner, brighter, airier places anyway.

How fit to do you feel? Take our personalised fitness test to find out.

Prepare your environment

Keeping heating down and humidity low in a well ventilated space will help. Bacteria lives longer in warm humid places, try reducing your heating to around 20 deg C and open the doors and windows other times. Make sure you wash your hands every time after using the wash room or using public transport. Making small considerate changes to our day to day life like sneezing into a tissue (not your hands) and disposing of it, staying home if feeling unwell and keeping surfaces clean are all common sense precautions.

Be aware but don’t be afraid

Locking yourself at home not to leave until it’s all over won’t do you any good and let’s face it it’s almost impossible to do. Some medias are always after the shock in a story - shock sells! But fear freezes us, fear prevents us from getting on and enjoying with life. We must remember the risk levels of death remain low.
So stay healthily, not afraid and enjoy the summer!

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