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American Morning

Tips to Help Avoid Getting Flu or Cold

Aired January 22, 2003 - 08:41   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: You certainly do not need us to tell us that it's the cold and flu season. Every time this part of the year we see it and so many cases, too. If you want to know how you can avoid getting sick, Dr. Sanjay Gupta has a few simply tips this morning in our House Call.
Love to hear about this stuff. Good morning.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I know you do. And I think I'm a good person to talk about it because I had a couple of days of the crud, no question about it. I was not alone, though. About a billion people suffer colds in the United States every year. That's two to three or so per adult, and six to eight per kids.

Now typically, people think of the cold season being when it's cold outside, but really, the two have nothing to do with each other. It's just that more people are congregated indoors like we are in the newsroom. Take a look around here, you see a lot of people typing on computers and using phones, as you can see here.

But when you cough or when you sneeze on one of these computer desks or anything like that, you can actually leave a virus that causes a cold for about three hours. You see this guy talking very closely on the phone probably used by someone else who may have coughed and sneezed into it and three hours later, the virus can still be on there. So no question, people can actually get the cold or flu by congregating indoors like they are here in the CNN newsroom -- Bill.

HEMMER: Yes, and oftentimes, we share the same telephones, as you point out, and the same computer keyboards as well.

Listen, how do you avoid getting it? Your tips today are what?

GUPTA: Yes, well, there are a lot of tips out there. But you and I have talked about some of these in the past. The most simple tip, really, and I say it all of the time, but it is so important, wash your hands frequently. Avoid close contact with sick people. Don't shake their hands even if you're sick or they might be sick. Disinfect the work area.

Bill, one of the things I keep at my desk actually is just some hand sanitizer, and this hand sanitizer which I have here I keep it there and I clean my hands frequently, especially if I'm coughing or sneezing quite a bit. You can disinfect your workspace. There are simple disinfectants. You can just get some alcohol wipes and actually wipe them down after you've actually -- if you're coughing or sneezing.

Now if you do get sick and want to prevent yourself from getting sicker, there are other things to do as well, which I've done over the last couple of days, get plenty of rest and drink lots of fluids. People do get dehydrated quickly, especially if they have a little a fever. Take over-the-counter cold remedies. And if you have the flu, there are some antivirals out there that can actually shorten the duration of the flu. They won't make it go away -- just make it go away a little bit more quickly, and finally, reduce stress, something we can only. Stress definitely does weakens your immune system a bit -- Bill.

HEMMER: The myths -- I like the last one. The myths, what do we know to the not true and what do we know to be not true?

GUPTA: There are some myths regarding colds and flus out there. I think we got a couple of examples. Flu shots caused the flu, Bill. You and I have talked about this all of the time.

HEMMER: Oh, yeah.

GUPTA: They do not cause the flu, simply put, because the flu shot is actually an inactive virus. It can't actually give you the flu. What it relies on is actually giving your body an antibody response.

Starve a cold, feed a fever, the flu they talk about, with a fever. Neither one of those things really true. Just eat as much as your normal appetite would allow you to eat and make sure you get plenty of fluids.

And finally, you can catch them, being the cold or flu, from being outside in cold weather, again, not true. It's not the cold weather outside, but rather again that more and more people are congregated inside, coughing, sneezing, shaking hands on each other, all that sort stuff.

HEMMER: Hey, listen, how you feeling?

GUPTA: I'm feeling better. I've still got a little bit of the crud, but it's better. I won't cough for you. It's there.

HEMMER: Please not. Watch the crud.

GUPTA: Thanks, Sanjay.

HEMMER: Good seeing you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired January 22, 2003 - 08:41   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: You certainly do not need us to tell us that it's the cold and flu season. Every time this part of the year we see it and so many cases, too. If you want to know how you can avoid getting sick, Dr. Sanjay Gupta has a few simply tips this morning in our House Call.
Love to hear about this stuff. Good morning.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I know you do. And I think I'm a good person to talk about it because I had a couple of days of the crud, no question about it. I was not alone, though. About a billion people suffer colds in the United States every year. That's two to three or so per adult, and six to eight per kids.

Now typically, people think of the cold season being when it's cold outside, but really, the two have nothing to do with each other. It's just that more people are congregated indoors like we are in the newsroom. Take a look around here, you see a lot of people typing on computers and using phones, as you can see here.

But when you cough or when you sneeze on one of these computer desks or anything like that, you can actually leave a virus that causes a cold for about three hours. You see this guy talking very closely on the phone probably used by someone else who may have coughed and sneezed into it and three hours later, the virus can still be on there. So no question, people can actually get the cold or flu by congregating indoors like they are here in the CNN newsroom -- Bill.

HEMMER: Yes, and oftentimes, we share the same telephones, as you point out, and the same computer keyboards as well.

Listen, how do you avoid getting it? Your tips today are what?

GUPTA: Yes, well, there are a lot of tips out there. But you and I have talked about some of these in the past. The most simple tip, really, and I say it all of the time, but it is so important, wash your hands frequently. Avoid close contact with sick people. Don't shake their hands even if you're sick or they might be sick. Disinfect the work area.

Bill, one of the things I keep at my desk actually is just some hand sanitizer, and this hand sanitizer which I have here I keep it there and I clean my hands frequently, especially if I'm coughing or sneezing quite a bit. You can disinfect your workspace. There are simple disinfectants. You can just get some alcohol wipes and actually wipe them down after you've actually -- if you're coughing or sneezing.

Now if you do get sick and want to prevent yourself from getting sicker, there are other things to do as well, which I've done over the last couple of days, get plenty of rest and drink lots of fluids. People do get dehydrated quickly, especially if they have a little a fever. Take over-the-counter cold remedies. And if you have the flu, there are some antivirals out there that can actually shorten the duration of the flu. They won't make it go away -- just make it go away a little bit more quickly, and finally, reduce stress, something we can only. Stress definitely does weakens your immune system a bit -- Bill.

HEMMER: The myths -- I like the last one. The myths, what do we know to the not true and what do we know to be not true?

GUPTA: There are some myths regarding colds and flus out there. I think we got a couple of examples. Flu shots caused the flu, Bill. You and I have talked about this all of the time.

HEMMER: Oh, yeah.

GUPTA: They do not cause the flu, simply put, because the flu shot is actually an inactive virus. It can't actually give you the flu. What it relies on is actually giving your body an antibody response.

Starve a cold, feed a fever, the flu they talk about, with a fever. Neither one of those things really true. Just eat as much as your normal appetite would allow you to eat and make sure you get plenty of fluids.

And finally, you can catch them, being the cold or flu, from being outside in cold weather, again, not true. It's not the cold weather outside, but rather again that more and more people are congregated inside, coughing, sneezing, shaking hands on each other, all that sort stuff.

HEMMER: Hey, listen, how you feeling?

GUPTA: I'm feeling better. I've still got a little bit of the crud, but it's better. I won't cough for you. It's there.

HEMMER: Please not. Watch the crud.

GUPTA: Thanks, Sanjay.

HEMMER: Good seeing you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com