Pandemic Influenza – Be Careful What You Touch

The even more worrying news is that it’s not just other people’s coughs and sneezes you need to avoid. 

These objects include anything an infected person has touched – just look around you now at all the things this might include.  Table tops, taps, door handles, light switches, desks, computers, pens………… the list goes on.

It is thought that the virus particles are passed on by people coming into physical contact – for example by shaking hands – or by touching contaminated objects.  The virus then gains entry to the body by contact between the contaminated hand - and the eyes or nose.

This method of transmission is likely to be another reason why many people get a cold following a long-haul flight. In a passenger plane, hundreds of people touch surfaces such as seats, trays, cups, locker handles. 

The advice is to wash hands or use a hand sanitizer frequently on flights and avoid rubbing your eyes or touching your face.

As a result of this knowledge there was recently a ‘Bin it!’ campaign in the UK. The advice given to people with colds was to immediately dispose of tissues into which they’ve sneezed, or blown their nose; and to wash their hands afterwards.  If everybody carried out this advice it would help to reduce the spread of colds and flu around homes and offices.

Cold and flu viruses keep changing

Whenever you suffer a cold or flu, if you have a normal intact immune system, you will develop immunity to that particular strain.  You will have developed antibodies to it, so that next time it is encountered your body will recognise it and immediately mount an ‘attack’ so that it will not be allowed to cause an infection.

So how come we go through our whole lives having colds and/or flu?  

So we’re always encountering new ones.

But not every contact ends up in a cold

Because cold and flu viruses are so common and around us all the time, it is estimated that we are actually infected many more times by cold and flu viruses than we actually know. But only a small proportion end up giving us the characteristic symptoms of a cold or flu.

The other times are called subclinical infections – in other words they do not result in a clinical – measurable or observable – illness. Sometimes we may feel a little more tired than usual or not quite ourselves - as if we are going to come down with a cold - but symptoms never actually develop.