STAMFORD, Ct. -- As the days get colder and shorter, we all dread the arrival of colds and flu. Most American adults get three to four colds a year, while 20-60 million get the flu.

Fortunately, some commonly overlooked precautions can reduce your risk of acquiring a cold or the flu. But if you do catch either one, there are new treatment approaches.

HOW THEY ARE TRANSMITTED

Colds and flu both are caused by viruses, but they typically are transmitted by different means. Colds, which usually are caused by rhinoviruses that stay active for up to three hours on hard surfaces (doorknobs, phones, etc.), typically are transmitted by hand. The flu is most often caused by viruses that are transmitted in the air when a person talks, yawns or coughs. The virus can remain active in the air for up to 10 minutes.

COLD PREVENTION

The cold virus infects your body via the mucous membranes. For this reason, avoid rubbing your nose or eyes and/or putting your fingers in your mouth.

The best protection against colds is keeping the virus off your hands in the first place.

Fact: Since few cold viruses are found in saliva, kissing usually will not spread a cold.

What’s most important is handwashing at these key times:

• After you’ve been in contact with someone who has a cold. • When you come home after being in a public place, where you may have touched an elevator button, doorknob, handrail, etc.…or after using public transportation.

Wash your hands for at least 15 seconds with warm water and any kind of soap. Use a nail brush to clean under your fingernails. Although antimicrobial soaps kill bacteria, they do not offer any additional protection against viruses that cause colds and flu.

Helpful: Alcohol-based, waterless cleansers are convenient when soap and water aren’t readily available.

Examples: Purell or Nexcare.

Disposable towelettes saturated with alcohol or other virus-killing agents also eliminate cold and flu viruses.

Examples: Wash ’n’ Dri and Wet Ones.

Especially helpful: Carry your own pen and use it to sign credit card slips and similar documents. Pens offered in restaurants, stores or pharmacies typically have been used by many people—several of whom are likely to have been sick.

Carry your own packet of tissues rather than taking them from a box that is likely to have been touched by others.

When someone in your household has a cold, everyone should use his/her own hand and bath towels.

COLD PROTECTION

Stress, smoking and consuming more than one alcoholic drink daily all can lower immune defenses against colds and other illnesses. Reduce stress with whatever you find relaxing.

Example: Walking, playing chess or reading. People who exercise moderately (brisk walking, stationary biking, etc.) several times a week have a lower incidence of colds and flu.

There is some evidence that vitamin C supplements and zinc (in the form of nasal sprays, nasal swabs or throat lozenges that coat the mucous membranes) limit the duration and severity of colds, but studies on their ability to prevent colds have shown mixed results.

Try taking 250 mg to 500 mg of vitamin C daily and using zinc every two to three hours for three or four days as soon as you feel the very first tickle in your throat, sneeze or other early symptom of a cold.

FLU PROTECTION

Although the flu virus, for the most part, is transmitted through airborne droplets, it sometimes can be carried by hand from contaminated objects and surfaces. Therefore, you should follow the same precautions you take against colds to help protect against the flu.

Good news: The flu is easier to prevent than a cold because there is an effective vaccine. If you are under age 65, vaccination offers up to 80% protection against the flu.

The effectiveness goes down to just 40% for people older than 65, but this still cuts the risk for flu nearly in half. Also, if you do get the flu after being vaccinated, it is likely to be less severe than if you hadn’t had the shot.

Each year, the vaccine is reformulated against the strains of flu that are expected to predominate, so it is usually not available until late September or early October. For full protection, get vaccinated by mid-November because it takes several weeks for immunity to build up, and flu season generally starts in earnest in December or January.

An inhaled flu vaccine, FluMist, contains weakened viruses, which have the potential to cause disease in people with a compromised immune system. It is recommended only for healthy people ages five to 49, who do not live with anyone with health problems that could make them vulnerable to the flu.

PREVENTIVE MEDICATION

The antiviral drug oseltamivir (Tamiflu) effectively treats flu in its early stages, but it also can help prevent the virus from taking hold.

Who should take it: If you have chronic lung disease, heart disease, diabetes or another condition that puts you at high risk for complications from the flu, and you haven’t been vaccinated, ask your doctor about oseltamivir. Taking 75 mg daily for six to eight weeks has been found to be 75% effective at preventing flu.

Downside: Oseltamivir costs $90 a week.

If you have been exposed to someone with the flu (you were in the same room or office) and you did not get the flu vaccine, taking 75 mg of oseltamivir daily for 10 days has been shown to be 75% effective at preventing the flu.

If you get the flu, taking oseltamivir (150 mg daily for five days) within 48 hours of contracting the illness may lessen the symptoms, shorten the duration and reduce your risk for complications, such as pneumonia. The flu usually causes body aches and exhaustion in addition to headache, stuffy nose, sneezing and cough.

Other antivirals include amantadine (Symmetrel) and rimantadine (Flumadine), but they are effective against only one strain of the flu, Influenza A, and may cause insomnia and jitteriness. Zanamivir (Relenza), an inhaled antiviral, may decrease lung function and cause shortness of breath, so it cannot be taken by people with heart or lung conditions.

COLD AND FLU TREATMENT

When cold or flu viruses attack, the body releases inflammatory compounds known as cytokines to help fight the foreign invaders. These compounds cause fever, congestion, body aches, headaches and throat pain. To reduce these troublesome symptoms, take an anti-inflammatory drug, such as aspirin or ibuprofen (Advil), at dosages recommended on the label, at the first sign of congestion, sneezing, etc., and continue for three to four days.

Hot chicken soup also has anti-inflammatory properties. Have one to two cups daily during your illness. Hot tea thins mucus and acts as a bronchodilator, opening up the airways for easier breathing. Drink three to four cups of hot tea daily.

Bottom Line/Health interviewed Neil Schachter, MD, professor of pulmonary medicine and medical director of the respiratory care department at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City. He is the author of The Good Doctor’s Guide to Colds and Flu (HarperCollins).

Reprinted with the permission of: Boardroom Inc. and Bottom Line Publications 281 Tresser Blvd. Stamford, CT 06901 www.BottomLineSecrets.com