I can never remember if it's "feed a cold and starve a fever" or the other way around -- but quite frankly, once I'm sick, it doesn't matter.  I'm too tired and achey and feverish to care.

Now that flu and cold season is in full swing, we wanted to give you some great resources for information on avoiding them, or at least mitigating them, so you can perhaps come through the season unscathed.  Is there anything to these home remedies?  What about the old stand-by, chicken soup?  You might be surprised at the answers, so read on.

One thing you can do to keep the viruses on the run is to step up your cleaning regimen.  Keep lots of antibacterial and other wipes around, use them on everything, and keep your bedding fresh and clean.  Frequent washing or cleaning is a good idea.

Wishing you a healthy season!

Jim Nixon,
The Cleaners

Flu Factoid

• Influenza (flu) infects more than 90 million Americans each year (misery loves company!)
• 100,000 people land in the hospital with flu-related complications each year, and 20,000 of them die.
• A pandemic is a severe outbreak of the flu with many fatalities.  The Spanish Flu of 1918 infected almost half of the world's population and killed 20 million people -- more than all of World War I.
• Pandemics crop up about every 20-30 years.  Our last pandemic was the Hong Kong flu of 1968, with 30,000 fatalities in the U.S.

Down for the Count Coupon

We wish we could give you a coupon that would be good for one "pass" on the flu season, but we can't.  Instead, we're doing the next best thing -- helping you stay healthy.  With $10 in regular cleaning, have one item of down or other bedding cleaned at half price.  (Include the first page of this e-mail with your order.  Offer expires 12/20/03.  Cannot be combined with other offers.)

That Aching, Feverish, Exhausted,
Head-pounding Feeling.

Yup, it's probably the flu.  Again.  And you'll be down for the count.  Influenza is a very old virus-driven disease, and it mutates so quickly that you can get sandbagged by it at the beginning of the season (rendering you immune to that strain) and yet still get hit with the mutated version later in the season as well.  Nasty.

Flu is more than just an inconvenience and irritation.  It regularly kills tens of thousands of people, both in developing nations and in those steeped in technology (see Factoid).  It is a great leveler, striking down rich and poor, young and old, healthy and unhealthy.  Isn't there anything you can do to avoid it?

First of all, you need to determine whether you have the flu or a good old "common cold".  See where you fit in on the chart below:

                                       Flu                       Cold

Fever                      Sudden, common                  Rare
Headache                       Usual                              Rare
Body Aches               Often severe                       Slight
Fatigue                  Extreme, 2-3 weeks                Mild
Runny Nose                  Not often                      Common
Sore Throat                   Not often                      Common
Cough                             Common                   Mild to hacking

Flu calls for a trip to the doctor to reduce the symptoms and get you on the road to recovery, since there are new antiviral drugs that can shorten the duration of the infection.  Antibiotics don't work against either the flu or a cold, since both are caused by viruses, not bacteria (which is what antibiotics fight.)  Though colds are a relatively minor health problem, they account for more visits to the doctor than any other ailment. 

• Here's a handy site with info on colds and flu, and with a "flu or cold" interactive test to help you determine which you have.

What are the best things you can do to ward off the flu (and colds, too)?

• Get a flu shot.  If you didn't get one already this year, you may be out of luck now that supplies are short, but check with your doctor.  Flu shots are made up based on the last flu strain of the previous season, since often a strain will crop up mildly at that time, then come roaring back in the next season.  (If you are allergic to eggs, don't get one.)
• Avoid crowds.  We get together in groups more at this time of year than any other -- holiday parties, visiting, and cold weather all draw us together and indoors.  Viruses love that!  When someone sneezes or coughs who has the flu or a cold, small droplets that include virus cells hang in the air just waiting for someone to walk by.
• Increase hand-washing and overall cleanliness of your home and bedding.  Cold germs are particularly adept at "contact spreading".  Someone with a cold touches a door knob, and then you come along and open the door.  Sleeping in the same room with someone with the flu can lead to you getting it, so try to sleep in another room if possible. 
• Keep up your health habits.  Don't slack off just because it's the holidays.  It's harder for a virus to knock you for a loop if you're healthy and active.

If you get a cold or the flu, there are things you can do to keep from spreading it further, or extending how long you will be ill:

• Go to bed and stay there.  Don't be a martyr and show up at work for two or three days before succumbing to the flu.  In that amount of time, you can effectively wipe out half the office personnel around you, so they share your flu.  Not nice.  Don't do it.  Besides, the longer you try to soldier on, the longer it will take for you to get well.
• Force yourself to keep drinking clear fluids -- water is best -- so that you flush your system and keep your mucus membranes moist (allowing them to clear.)
• Chicken soup IS good for you.  Many old wive's tales don't bear much scrutiny, but this is one that does.  Not only will the steam be soothing to your nose and breathing, but there are actually chemicals in chicken soup that are effective in fighting off the viruses.  It's also a good source of protein, for when you don't feel like eating more.
• Over-the-counter medications can help with aches and other symptoms.  But be careful, since they can make you feel better (dry up your runny nose) but may prolong your down time by thwarting your body's normal processes.
• Be cautious of herbal remedies.  There is no regulation of many of the herbal supplements and other items you may have heard about for helping with colds and flu, and many have proven in scientific testing to be either ineffective or counter-productive.  See links below for more information.
• Avoid drinking liquids with caffeine or alcohol, since they can lead to dehydration.
• Avoid smoking.
• Use a humidifier, which will reduce the discomfort of your cold; suck on hard candies or lozenges to ease your throat and keep it moist; use soft tissue on your nose and lubricate it with K-Y Jelly (Iasts longer than petroleum jelly); Use a heating pad on your aching joints, and soak your feet in hot water -- somehow, that helps when you have nasal congestion or a headache.
• Rest, rest, rest!  This, too, shall pass.

Links to more information about flu and cold symptoms, remedies and strategies:

• National Flu Surveillance Network -- a neat map of where the flu is on the rise right now, state-by-state, and also information on how to protect yourself and your family.
• Treat the Symptoms of Colds and Mild Flu -- Information from the University of California at Davis medical school.
• What is the flu and how is it caused? -- from the American Lung Association.
• The Center for Disease Control on flu.
• The US Food and Drug Administration on flu.
• Colds and Flu -- an in-depth article about various things that work and don't work in easing symptoms, and warnings about some that are actually dangerous.
• 21 Remedies to Beat the Bug -- Good information with specific ideas to help when you're sick.
• Check out the real facts on natural remedies -- A website that is building a database of natural remedy brands that it tests and rates.