Living Simply: Prevent Getting Sick

This year, we're being told that the flu virus is up over 500% from the norm. Many people who get a cold find it just about goes away, but due to an impaired immune system, they end up with what they think is a "Round 2" of the cold, when really it's things like sinus and ear infections, bronchitis, and other more serious illnesses. If you've been fortunate enough not to get sick (that's no one I can think of), here's a few tips to prevent getting sick. Obviously everyone's immune system is different and is exposed to different things, but these tips will significantly reduce your chances of catching something.

1.  Wash your clothes in hot water and/or bleach (depending on if it's whites, you buy a bleach for colored clothes like Chlorox 2, etc.). Clothing can carry harmful things like salmonella, hepatitus, and other viruses. Most people don't use hot water anymore, and don't use bleach regularly. If you aren't able to do either, dry clothes for over 20 minutes, that can kill germs too.

2.  Disinfect your kitchen sinks and counters with disinfectant wipes (or sprays if that's all you have). Use paper towels instead of sponges or dishrags to clean. Microwave, soak in bleach, or run your sponges through the dishwasher to kill germs.

3.  Use hand sanitizer for your commuting, working, and running errands. You touch the same things many others touch every day, from buses, door handles, elevator buttons, computers, phones, and more to the things like shopping carts, ATM machines, the pay machine keypads at the store checkout counters. Keep your hands sanitized. The people before you may not have been careful at all about spreading their cold germs.

4.  Hang your purses and bags on bathroom stall hooks. Do NOT put them on the floor - don't put them on restaurant floors either! You'd be disgusted to find out how much fecal matter has been found to be on the bottom of the average person's bags.

5.  In restaurants, if you have access to disinfectant wipes, swipe your table and chair. Often the chairs aren't done more than once a day most places.