10 Ways to Avoid the Flu While You're on the Road

I get asked pretty frequently (especially lately), "You travel all the time, what do you do about germs? Where/when do you get your Flu shot every year?" I hear about all sorts of home-spun remedies and preventatives, and I largely ignore them (one woman at work swears by a tin of sardines and a glass of tomato juice every day).

But I did do one curious thing: I stopped listening to the news about H1N1 outbreaks, etc, and I actually spoke to my doctor. 

Real-World Health Advice

He surprised me.  Have a look at this interactive flu map. If you look at the "Case by County" map, you’ll see that, in fact, there are so few actual cases of H1N1 that, if you’re generally healthy, you probably shouldn’t worry too much about it. Some parts of the country seem more susceptible than others, though, and I do travel a lot, so my doctor and I discussed it. 

He told me that unless I’m headed for Mexico City; I have more to fear from bacterial cocktails in an average hotel room or from my fellow airplane passengers than I do from a planet-sweeping flu pandemic. So for the third year in a row, I politely declined a flu shot.

How badly should you freak out? Don’t freak out too much, but do use some common sense. Proven scientific wisdom shows that number one preventative for the spreading of nasty bacteria is to wash your hands! So do it. I wash mine all the time, especially when I’m in an airport. I also use the hand sanitation goop, and you know what? I don’t get sick. I haven’t been sick more than one day in the past three or four years of traveling.

Still, flu outbreaks do up the ante a little bit. I’ve compiled a list of recommendations from the World Health Organization that will help you do what you can to minimize your risk of infection. Personally, I have to recommend good hydration, vitamin C packets, and frequent hand-washing as my own endorsed remedies. Your mileage may vary:

1. Avoid touching your eyes, nose, or mouth. Person to person transmission of a virus can result from touching another person, then absorbing the germs through one of these openings.
2. Wash your hands frequently, and keep hand sanitizers in your car or purse. Use after handling money, touching items that others also use (such as a gas pump), and before eating restaurant food.
3. Eat a healthy diet. Eating foods rich in vitamins A, C, and E will strengthen your immune system. Try to start each day with a healthy breakfast.
4. Take vitamins and supplements. A good multi-vitamin can help strengthen your immune system, as can drinking green tea.
5. Drink at least eight glasses of water per day. Water flushes out your system and keeps you hydrated.
6. Practice stress management. Too much stress can weaken your immune system. Exercise and find ways to relax, such as listening to soothing music, meditating, practicing yoga, reading, or watching a comedy show.
7. Get plenty of rest. Adults need at least seven hours of sleep per night, children more. Insufficient rest increases your chances of getting sick.
8. Use a separate set of towels for each family member. Give everyone a different color or pattern.
9. Avoid party dips and food trays that do not contain utensils. Others may have touched the food with their hands and spread their germs to the surround bits of food.  Snack bowls in bars are notorious germ collectors.
10. Stop smoking. Smoking kills cilia - the fibers in your nose and lungs that prevent mucus from clogging these airways.

EXTRA:  Please feel free to leave comments on this article! If you have questions for Ken regarding business travel, hotels, airplanes, etc, please send him a "Tweet" on his twitter account.  You can also follow Ken on Twitter @foodbreeze!