Although Influenza is a very troublesome infectious disease, it is not the most fearful invisible killer. Most of the so-called infectious diseases and epidemic diseases are greatly linked to the living habits of people. If you can follow most of the 23 suggestions indicated below, the infectious diseases, particularly influenza will surely stay away from your life.

1. Wash Your Hands Often. The medical researchers in the US conducted a study of 40,000 recruits who were ordered to wash their hands five times a day. The results indicate that the incidence of respiratory diseases for these recruits declined by 45%.

2. Wash Your Hands Twice Every Time You Wash Them. When Columbia University researchers looked for bacteria on volunteers' hands, they found one handwashing had little effect, even when using antibacterial soap. So wash twice if you're serious about fending off colds.

3. Pay Attention to the Cleanliness of Hands in Public Restrooms. Studies find a shockingly large percentage of people fail to wash their hands after using a public restroom. And every single one of them touches the door handle on the way out. So after washing your hands, use a paper towel to turn off the faucet. Use another paper towel to dry your hands, then open the door with that paper towel as a barrier between you and the handle.  The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests that this may help to protect you from infectious diseases like cold and flu.

4. Carry Hand Sanitizer with You. As most influenza viruses can live for hours on objects, the hand-to-hand or hand-to-object contact is a major mode of transmission for influenza. When you put your hand near your mouth or nose, the virus may seize the opportunity to enter your body. Hence, you鈥檇 better carry hand sanitizer gel or sanitizing towelettes with you and you can clean your hands anytime. One study of absenteeism due to infection in schools found that schools using the gel sanitizer had absentee rates from infection nearly 20 percent lower than those using other hand-cleaning methods.

5. Use Your Knuckle to Rub Your Eyes. It's less likely to be contaminated with viruses than your fingertip. This is particularly important given that the eye provides a perfect entry point for bacteria, and the average person rubs his eyes or scratches his face 20-50 times a day.

6. Run Your Toothbrush through the Microwave on High for 10 Seconds. This may kill bacteria that can cause colds and other illnesses. After brushing teeth, the toothbrush can be a breeding ground for bacteria, therefore, it is better to sterilize the toothbrush in microwave oven before you use it.

7. Get a Flu Shot Every Fall. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends flu shots for anyone 50 years old or older, residents of long-term care facilities, people who have chronic medical problems (heart disease, asthma, diabetes, etc.), pregnant women, and people whose immune systems have been weakened by cancer, AIDS, or other causes. Also, people who live or work with a high-risk person should get a flu shot so they don't spread the flu.

8. Stop Blaming Yourself. Blaming yourself makes you more likely to catch a cold. This is what researchers found when they studied more than 200 workers over three months. Even those who had control over their work were more likely to begin sneezing if they lacked confidence or tended to blame themselves when they met difficulties at work.

9. Put a Box of Tissues Wherever People Sit. Place a box of tissues around the house, your workplace and your car. You need tissues widely available so that anyone who has to cough or sneeze will do so in the way least likely to spread bacteria.

10. Leave the Windows Open a Crack in Any Season. This is particularly important if you live in a newly decorated home. Plenty of fresh air will do wonders for chasing out bacteria.

11. Lower the Temperature in Your House 5 Degrees. The dry air of an overheated home provides the perfect environment for cold viruses to thrive. And when your mucous membranes (i.e., nose, mouth, and tonsils) dry out, they can't trap those bacteria very well. Lowering the temperature and using a room humidifier helps maintain a healthier level of temperature in the winter.

12. Regulate the Humidity in Your Home. The humidity in your home should be kept at around 50%. A consistent measure higher than 60 percent means mold and mildew may start to set in your walls, fabrics, and kitchen; lower than 40 percent and the dry air makes you more susceptible to bacteria.

13. Sit in a Sauna Once a Week. An Austrian study found that volunteers who frequently used a sauna had half the rate of colds during the six-month study period than those who didn't use a sauna at all. It's possible that the hot air you inhale kills cold viruses.

14. Inhale Air from Your blow-dryer. It sounds nuts, but one study conducted at Harvard Hospital in England found that people who breathed heated air had half the cold symptoms of people who inhaled air at room temperature. Breathe in the air through your nose for as long as you can -- 20 minutes is best.

15. Take a Garlic Clove Every Day. When 142 volunteers received either one garlic clove a day or a placebo for 12 weeks between November and February, those taking the garlic were not only less likely to get a cold, but if they did catch one, their symptoms were less intense and they recovered faster.

16. Drink a Cup of Yogurt Every Day. A study from the University of California found that people who ate one cup of yogurt every day had 25 percent fewer colds than non-yogurt eaters. Start your yogurt eating in the summer to build up your immunity before cold and flu season starts.

17. Meditate for a Moment Every Day. Meditation is an effective way to reduce stress. And stress increases your susceptibility to colds. In fact, stressed people have up to twice the number of colds as non-stressed people.

18. Scrub under Your Fingernails Every Night. They're a great hiding place for bacteria.

19. Wash Your Hand Towels Every 3 or 4 Days. It is better to wash the hand towels with hot water in order to kill the bacteria during cold and flu season.

20. At the Very First Hint of a Cold, Launch the Following Preventive Blitz. Here's how: 1. Suck on a zinc lozenge until it melts away. Then suck another every two waking hours, or use a zinc-based spray; 2. Take one 250-milligram capsule of the herb astragalus twice a day until you are better; 3. Roast garlic in a microwave oven, and eat the softened garlic with three meals. You may find that garlic produces quicker and more lasting effect than any drug.

21. Wipe Your Nose Instead of Blowing Your Nose. Nose blowing not only sends the gunk out of your nose into a tissue, but propels some back into your sinuses. If you need to blow, blow gently, and blow one nostril at a time.

22. Sneeze and Cough into Your Arm or a Tissue. Many people think that they should cover their mouths when they cough or sneeze, and it is wrong. That just puts the bacteria right on your hands, where you can spread them to objects and other people. Instead, hold the crook of your elbow over your mouth and nose when you sneeze or cough if a tissue isn't handy. It's pretty rare that people shake your elbow after all.

23. Don't Pressure Your Doctor for Antibiotics. Colds and flu are caused by viruses, so antibiotics designed to kill bacteria won't do a thing. They can hurt, however, by killing off the friendly bacteria that are part of our immune defenses.

Abstracted from United Times