As a kid, having a cold can make you feel quite miserable can’t it? You have to remember to carry some tissues or a hanky with you or otherwise mum and dad come along to wipe your drippy beak just when you’re least expecting it. Sitting next to someone in class who keeps sniffling or wiping their nose on their sleeve is quite gross too!
With winter on the doorstep, the chances are you will catch a cold before next spring. But how exactly do you catch a cold and what can you do to avoid getting one?
Your sniffly nose and coughs result from a tiny virus that invades your nose and throat tubes. The virus irritates the lining of these tubes and more mucus and fluid is made. Your nose drips, you sneeze and cough and before long you have spread tiny droplets of fluid all around the room and infected everyone else. You can also spread your viruses on your hands if you wipe your nose or eyes and don’t wash. Your hands touch handles, pencils and such like, then someone else comes along, touches the same thing as you, wipes their eyes or picks their nose and, bingo, they have accidentally introduced the virus into their own tubes (oops).
How can you avoid catching a cold for your children?
1. Wash your hands frequently during the day. Viruses love to sit on your skin and you can easily pick viruses up as you touch door handles, pencils, stair railings and other things that lots of people have touched before you. There are lots of hand gels to buy that can kill viruses too.
2. Don’t get too close to someone with a cold. Shaking their hand or being in the firing line when they take an enormous sneeze is one sure way of catching what they have got!
How can you avoid spreading a cold?
Do not spread your germs around! If you feel a sneeze coming, grab your tissue, CATCH the sneeze in it, BIN the tissue after that and finally KILL IT by washing your hands.