Try your best to avoid touching your face like scratching or rubbing your nose. It's especially important to take these precautions if you live with older adults, infants or toddlers, persons with asthma, or people with weakened immune systems. While a cold may not necessarily be worse in these individuals, your symptoms may turn out to be something more dangerous, like the flu or COVID You can prevent the spread of colds by isolating yourself, wearing a face mask, covering your mouth when coughing or sneezing, washing your hands frequently, and cleaning surfaces.
While there are no vaccines to prevent colds or surefire ways to avoid cold symptoms, there are things you can do that may reduce the severity or duration of a cold.
These include:. Colds are spread by airborne droplets, person-to-person contact, and touching contaminated surfaces. Colds are most contagious one to four days after cold symptoms appear but may be contagious even longer. If you get a cold, you can prevent the spread of the virus by isolating yourself, wearing a face mask, covering your mouth when coughing or sneezing, washing your hands frequently, and regularly cleaning surfaces. Treating a cold properly, including getting plenty of rest, may reduce its duration or severity.
No one enjoys catching a cold, but, by taking a few standard precautions, you may be able to avoid spreading the virus to others. Out of courtesy to others, it is best to take time off from work or school if you have cold symptoms.
The same applies if you are scheduled to go to an event or location where there will be a lot of people, such as a concert or a movie theater. Even if you're not entirely sure you are sick, you should avoid going out as you may inadvertently be the cause of a super-spreader event. Looking to avoid getting the flu? Our free guide has everything you need to stay healthy this season. Sign up and get yours today. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Common colds: Protect yourself and others.
American Lung Association. Facts about the common cold. Tesini BL. Common cold. Merck Manual Professional Version. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. People at highest risk for severe disease include. In the United States and other areas with similar climates, RSV infections generally occur during fall, winter, and spring. The timing and severity of RSV circulation in a given community can vary from year to year.
Skip directly to site content Skip directly to page options Skip directly to A-Z link. Section Navigation. But on copper surfaces, the virus stops being infectious after six hours.
Mucus from a sneeze can protect a virus from the damaging influences of a dry environment and make the virus maintain infectiousness longer. But on the plus side, Greatorex said, the more mucus a friend or co-worker sneezes, the shorter distance it will travel because of its increased weight and size. All the same, if someone in your office is ill, tell them to take a sick day.
But for those who want to be more proactive, Auwaerter recommends sanitizing surfaces periodically with wipes or other chemicals. Subscribe to our Science Newsletter to explore the wide worlds of science, health and technology. The CDC and National Institutes of Health still recommend that everyone get a flu shot and wash their hands regularly. That point is worth driving home, considering individuals alone touch their faces an average of 15 times per hour.
Bin it. Kill it. She is also the lead producer of the NewsHour Shares broadcast series. Support Provided By: Learn more. Thursday, Jan The Latest. World Agents for Change. Health Long-Term Care. For Teachers. Several strains of FCV circulate in domestic and wild cats. The virus mutates readily, leading to new strains that may not be fully covered by existing vaccines.
Strains vary in the severity of the disease that they cause, with the majority causing only mild disease. The ability of the virus to mutate likely explains why after 40 years of vaccinating against FCV, outbreaks still frequently occur. FCV occurs most commonly in multi-cat environments. The virus spreads through direct contact with the saliva, nasal mucus and eye discharge of infected cats and through aerosol droplets that spread when cats sneeze.
Lab tests have also detected the virus in urine, feces and blood. Cats typically shed the virus for about two or three weeks after infection, but some cats become long-term carriers, and continue to shed the virus on and off for months.
FCV is a hardy virus that survives on surfaces for up to a month in certain environments. Humans that handle infected cats can inadvertently transfer the virus to new animals. After being exposed to FCV, the incubation period is two to 14 days before symptoms appear.
The virus likely initially infects the lining of the back of the mouth. After the virus replicates there, it likely spreads through the bloodstream to other organs.
However, FCV preferentially infects the lining of the mouth and the tissues within the lungs. Most cats develop an upper respiratory tract infection and in more severe cases, the virus travels into the lungs where it causes pneumonia.
At first the cat will have symptoms that look like a cold, with sneezing, nasal congestion, fever and sometimes drooling. Large amounts of discharge can come from the eyes and nose. In more severe cases, cats can also develop inflammation and ulcers on the tongue, and the lining of the mouth.
Lethargy, mild lameness and lack of appetite may also occur. These symptoms can persist from five to 10 days in mild cases and up to six weeks in more severe ones. During the course of the illness, opportunistic bacterial infections can also occur. Cats may lose weight, and the infection can also cause abortions in pregnant cats.
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