Stay squeaky clean
“I wash my hands all the time and open doors and touch elevator buttons with a clean tissue whenever possible,” says Dan Collins, who works in media relations at a Baltimore hospital. “When I return to my desk, I immediately grab my supply of antibacterial hand wipes. And whenever my eye itches, I never use the tip of my finger to scratch unless I can sanitize my finger first; instead, I use my knuckle or the back of my hand, as these areas have had less contact with germs than my fingertips.” Collins also holds his breath “for a good 15 seconds” if he walks by someone who sneezes, and he takes zinc at the first sign that a cold is trying to take hold (usually a telltale back-of-the-throat tickle)—a habit that research supports.
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