Winter is the peak season for sneezin’ — and congestion, coughing, and achiness that often come with colds and flu. Thankfully, with a couple of precautions, you can reduce your risk of these respiratory infections. And if you do get sick, you can take steps to ease your symptoms as you return to better health.
Here’s what you need to know about navigating cold and flu season, especially if you have a bleeding disorder.
Practice Hand Hygiene
Germs that cause colds and flu are everywhere, including on things that you regularly come into contact with. Washing your hands is a simple and effective way to stop the spread of illness.
Make a habit of washing your hands often, especially before preparing or eating food, after using the bathroom, before and after infusing or treating a wound, and after blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that you wash your hands this way:
- Wet your hands with clean warm or cold running water and then turn off the tap. Apply soap.
- Rub your hands together to create a soapy lather and cover the backs of your hands, between your fingers, and under your nails.
- Scrub your hands for at least 20 seconds. You should be able to hum the “Happy Birthday” song twice.
- Rinse well with clean running water.
- Dry your hands using a clean towel or air dryer.
When you can’t use soap and water, use a hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol.
Also, avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth, as these are easy places for germs to enter your body and make you sick. If you infuse, keep the infusion site clean to prevent germs from getting in.
Get Vaccinated …
The flu vaccine helps you by building up your body’s immunity to the flu virus. If you happen to get the flu, you won’t get as sick. When you get the flu vaccine, you also help protect people around you.
The vaccine is designed to fight against the three main viruses expected that year, which is why it’s good to get the vaccine each year.
The CDC recommends getting a flu vaccine in September or October, although the organization recommends the vaccine for as long as the virus is out there. Flu outbreaks typically peak in December through February, but they have peaked as late as April.
… But Know This If You Have a Bleeding Disorder
The National Bleeding Disorders Foundation’s Medical and Scientific Advisory Council (MASAC) highly recommends that people with bleeding disorders follow the vaccine schedule from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the CDC. For the flu, that means everyone 6 months and older should get vaccinated each year.
MASAC’s recommended procedures for giving vaccinations include using a fine-gauge needle, pressure to the vaccination site, therapy to prevent hematoma formation, prophylaxis treatment as needed, and acetaminophen with caution for pain relief.
Many people believe that getting a vaccine via subcutaneous injection (under the skin) instead of intramuscular injection (into a muscle) reduces the potential for hematomas in the muscle in people with bleeding disorders. However, MASAC acknowledges that there isn’t enough evidence to say whether the potential reduction of hematomas from subcutaneous administration outweighs any potential reduction in vaccine efficacy.
What to Do If You Get Sick
Despite your best efforts to avoid it, sometimes you get sick. For most colds and flu, you won’t need medical care or prescription drugs, and symptoms will get better on their own.
Try to manage your symptoms until the viral infection runs its course and you start to feel better, in about seven to 14 days. Get lots of rest, drink fluids, use a humidifier or saline nasal spray, and take a pain reliever.
Hematologists advise that people with bleeding disorders avoid nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), including aspirin and ibuprofen. Many cold and flu products contain NSAIDs. Instead, look for products with acetaminophen, though with any drug, you should use caution.
If you have severe flu symptoms or are at high risk — you’re older than 65, have asthma, diabetes, or heart disease, or are pregnant — then you should call your doctor. You might receive a prescription for an antiviral medication.
Because colds and flu are caused by viruses, an antibiotic won’t work. In fact, taking an antibiotic for a viral infection might reduce the medicine’s effectiveness for when you really need it. Your doctor might prescribe an antibiotic, however, if the illness leads to a secondary infection, such as pneumonia.
Read more articles about staying healthy at Hemaware.org/mind-body.