ColumbiaCare

During the holiday season, the last thing we need is to get sick. But whether or not you get your flu shot, there is more you can do. According to Health.com there are ways to “outsmart the flu.”Let us know if you have any helpful home remedies that help prevent the flu.

• Wash your hands.

-Wash your hands over and over consistently for at least 15-20 seconds.  

• Avoid major crowds. 

-The flu grows in social places, so be careful when you are out and care tissues on hand.

• Keep hydrated.

-Make sure to drink lots of fluid to “keep your membranes in fighting shape.”

• Do vitamins

-Vitamin C & D and selenium are great to keep healthy during the flu season.  Orange juice and yogurt are usually fortified with vitamin D and selenium, and of course orange juice has plenty of vitamin C.   Howstuffworks.com lists several natural home remedies to help fight the flu. Here are just a few:

• Honey

-Yes, honey. If a hacking cough if keeping you up at night, try this recipe: Mix 1 tablespoon of honey into 1 cup of hot water, stir well, and enjoy. 

•  Mustard – “because it is loaded with antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties, many of which can be inhaled through the vapors.”

-To make a mustard plaster use this recipe: use 1 tablespoon dry mustard and 2-4 tablespoons flour. Mix both with 1 egg white (optional) and warm water to form a paste. Next, find a clean handkerchief or square of muslin large enough to cover the upper chest. Smear the cloth with the paste and then put the cloth over it. Put a little olive oil on the patient’s skin and apply the mustard plaster to the upper chest. Check the patient every few minutes since mustard plaster can burn. Remove after a few minutes. Afterwards, wash off any traces of mustard from the skin. 

The holidays can be a joyous occasion to come together with family and friends. Take precautions to keep foodborne illness from getting in the way of your next holiday celebration. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Website, “foodborne disease is caused by consuming contaminated foods or beverages.” And, the CDC estimates that 5,000 people die out of the 76 million cases of foodborne illness found in the U.S. each year, according to the CDC’s website.

There are easy steps you can take in the kitchen to reduce your risk of infecting those you care about. According to the Partnership for Food Safety Education’s Website (www.fightbac.org), simply “clean”, “separate”, “cook”, and “chill”. When cleaning, the Partnership for Food Safety Education’s Website recommends washing your hands, any tools and surfaces that come into contact with food, and fruits and vegetables. The Partnership for Food Safety Education’s Website also recommends that when separating food, make sure each type of food does not come into contact with other types, such as raw meat and cooked meat, so that cross-contamination does not occur. And when cooking, the Partnership for Food Safety Education’s Website recommends that you use a food thermometer, so that you can check the internal temperature of meat. And according to the Partnership for Food Safety Education’s Website, you should refrigerate at 40 degrees F or below, and freeze food at 0 degrees F or below.

Safe Cooking Temperatures

• Poultry- minimum 165 degrees F (internal temp.)

• Steaks/ roasts- minimum 145 degrees F

• Ground meat- minimum 160 degrees F

• Fish- 145 degrees F, or flesh easily separates/ flesh is opaque

• Gravy, sauces- boil when reheating

• Leftovers- 165 degrees F

Source: Partnership for Food Safety Education’s Website (www.fightbac.org)

Do you have any safe holiday tips?

Share them with us!  Post a response to this blog entry by clicking on the “No Comments” link near the title of the post.

When flu season starts, it is hard to determine if your syptoms are in fact flu-worthy or just that of the common cold, but FluFacts.com gives us insight on how to tell the difference.”The cold and flu are both respiratory illnesses, but they are caused by different types of viruses,” according to the website.One main difference is a cold will gradually appear and worsen, whereas the flu can appear within 3-6 hours. Symptoms of the flu also contain fever, aches, chills, and tiredness, and these are much less common in the cold spectrum. Productive coughing, sneezing, and a running nose are much more prevelant in the cold realm.If you are experincing flu-like symptoms please contact your doctor as soon as possible.

Columbia/Boone County Health Department, 1005 Worley St., Columbia
Contact Number: (573)-874-7355
Cost at the clinic: Flu shots & FluMist: $20 Pneunomia: $30
Check or cash is accepted
They can bill Medicaid and Medicare, but not private insurance
Saturday, Nov. 17, 10:00-1:00

Schnucks, 1400 Forum Blvd., Columbia
Contact Number: (573)-446-2804
Cost: Flu Vaccine: $25, Pneunomia: $39
Wednesday, Nov. 14, 10:00-1:00
Thursday, Nov. 15, 4:00-7:00
Friday, Nov. 16, 10:00-1:00
Saturday, Nov. 17, 10:00-1:00

Like taxes or heartbreak, the flu is a part of life. For most people, the virus sneaks or stomps its way into their lives more than once.
Avoiding the virus is obviously the goal; but, if the flu does make its way into your body, it may be helpful to know what it can do once it gets there.
Dr. William Salzer, Professor of Clinical Medicine at MU, said that the flu enters the body through the nose and mouth. From there, “it tears up your respiratory tree,” which includes the nose, throat, lower airways, and lungs, he said. For some people, the virus enters the bloodstream and circulates around the body until it is killed by the immune system; for others, the virus descends down into the lungs where it can cause one of two types of pneumonia, Salzer said.  The first kind is primary flu pneumonia for which the flu is the direct cause, and the second type is bacterial pneumonia which does not appear until 5-10 days after the first flu symptoms, Salzer said. The bacterial form of the disease is responsible for most of the flu-related deaths among senior citizens, Salzer said. For information about pneumonia, click here.

Dr. Salzer also champions getting the flu vaccine. In fact, he said the CDC recommends that children between six months and five years old be
vaccinated because of that age group’s higher occurrence of other diseases resultant from the flu that can lead to hospitalization. As for parental concerns that the vaccine may give children the virus, Salzer said that parents shouldn’t worry.

“There’s no evidence that the flu shot causes the flu,” Salzer said.

Salzer also mentioned a live vaccine that is squirted into the patient’s nose. The spray has been approved for children as young as two years old should they not want to get a shot, he said.  The flu is coming. That much is certain. Make sure to wash your hands.

• The next flu clinic is 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. this Saturday, Nov. 17 at the department’s offices located at 1005 W. Worley St. (573) 874-7347.

A flu vaccine clinic was offered at the Columbia/Boone County Health Department from 3-6 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 7. The clinic was set up in stations beginning with registration and ending with payment. Both the flu shot and FluMist were administered for $20 each. They are able to bill both Medicaid and Medicare, but are unable to bill private insurance, said Stacia Reilly, public information officer for the Health Department. Reilly said that those with private insurance will receive a receipt for the vaccine. The clinic has been administering flu vaccines for four years and they have seen up to 500 people in a given three hour period, Reilly said.