2022 Cold & Flu Season: What to Expect & How to Stay Healthy
After one of the hottest summers on record, the cooler temperatures of fall are a welcome relief. But fall also brings the dreaded sniffling and coughing of yet another flu season. Read on to find out what’s expected of this year’s flu season, what you can do to protect yourself, and how to recover quickly if you do get sick.
2022 Cold & Flu Season Projections
According to Andrew Pekosz, a virologist and professor of microbiology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health, all signs predict that it will be a strong flu season in 2022.1 To make such predictions, researchers often look to data from the southern hemisphere. They found that the Australian flu season arrived significantly earlier than normal and resulted in the worst flu season in five years.2
The severity of the flu may also be impacted by relaxed COVID-19 restrictions. Infections were down in the last two years due to mask mandates, social distancing, and less travel. But because there was less opportunity for the flu virus to circulate widely, immunity to the flu in the population declined. Add this to the return of socializing, travel, and other fixtures of leading a “normal” life, and the public is bound to be more vulnerable to falling ill.3
Fortunately, there are steps you can take to prevent illness and slow the spread of the flu virus. They include:
Wash Hands Frequently with Soap and Water
Healthy hand habits can help protect against the flu and prevent the spread of germs to those around you. Whether you are at home, at work, or traveling, here’s what you should know about keeping your hands clean:
- According to the CDC, washing your hands can help prevent one in five respiratory infections and one in three diarrheal issues.4
- Handwashing education and access to soap in schools can help improve attendance.5
- You should wash your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds for the most effectiveness.
- Keep hand sanitizer with you for those times when soap and water are not readily available.
Avoid Touching Your Eyes, Nose & Mouth
Did you know that people touch their face around 23 times per hour?6 When you touch your eyes, nose, and mouth, you’re basically granting the germs on your hands a VIP pass to wreak havoc on your respiratory system. To help prevent infections, keep your hands away from these vulnerable entry points and don’t forget to wash your hands.
Try Preventative Methods
Getting your flu vaccine is the single best thing you can do to prevent the flu. Though it’s not 100% effective, this year’s flu vaccine has been updated to include the strains predicted to circulate this season, including the A (H3N2), which dominated Australia’s brutal flu season.7
Keep a Steady Routine: Get Plenty of Rest & Move Your Body
Looking after your overall health is another way to keep your immune system strong and functional. Getting rest allows your body to produce protective cytokines and regular exercise causes change in antibodies and white blood cells, which help to fight against infections.
Stay Hydrated with Liquids
By carrying nutrients and oxygen to your cells and clearing toxins from your body, water helps to strengthen your immune system. The flu can also cause a fever, leading to lost liquids in the body that need to be replaced. If it’s hard to drink water because of a sore throat, try staying hydrated with hot tea or broth.
If You Have Any Cold or Flu Symptoms, Stay Home
Despite your best efforts, you’ve wound up getting sick. The best thing you can do to recover quickly is stay home and rest. Not only will this help you get better faster, but it’ll also keep you from infecting others. While you may be tempted to take an over-the-counter cold/flu medication to reduce symptoms, keep in mind that many of these medications are associated with uncomfortable side effects like dry mouth, nausea, upset stomach, and drowsiness. Even worse, these medications will not help you get better and merely mask your symptoms with harsh chemicals.
An alternative option is Brillia Cold-Flu Recovery, a homeopathic medication that offers a groundbreaking approach to reducing cold and flu symptoms without harsh, synthetic chemicals or harmful side effects. Specific and targeted, Cold-Flu Recovery will control symptoms like stuffy nose, sore throat, cough, congestion, runny nose, and body aches without affecting any other systems in the body or lingering in the body too long. Even more, Cold-Flu Recovery includes two ingredients that target the immune system to fight off viral infections faster and more effectively, and is is clinically proven to shorten the duration of your illness.
If you are also suffering from a cough, try Brillia Cough Control, which reduces both wet and dry coughs while reducing the stress that coughing places on the body. Both products can also be taken together for multi-symptom relief.
Continue Practicing Healthy Habits
Practicing healthy habits shouldn’t be limited to flu season. Following a nutritious diet, getting adequate sleep, exercising regularly, and lowering your stress levels can all help contribute to a happier immune system and a happier mood.
Find more resources on beating cold and flus safely and effectively at the Brillia(nce) Resource Center.
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