NHS issues ‘don’t spread colds’ warning

Published on 08/01/2013 12:21

THE NHS has issued seasonal advice for people suffering from colds.

There are more than 200 different viruses that cause colds, which is why they are so common.

A spokesman for the NHS said that people should persevere with over-the-counter medicines or wait for the virus to run its course rather than asking their GP for antibiotics.

She said:In most cases, you can treat the symptoms of a cold yourself from home by using a number of self-care techniques such as drinking plenty of fluids while getting plenty of rest, and also eating a healthy low fat, high fibre diet which includes lots of fresh fruit and vegetables.”

Cold symptoms reach their peak after 36 to 72 hours and include dry, scratchy sore throat – usually the first sign of a cold, a runny nose and sneezing, a hoarse voice, a blocked, snuffly nose, a cough, a mild headache, a mild fever and generally feeling unwell or muzzy headed.

The spokesman added: “People can make more use of their pharmacists, who can offer advice on suitable over-the-counter treatments, which means avoiding an appointment with your GP and also the risk of spreading colds and flu by visiting the practice waiting room.

“You are most contagious during the first three days of a cold, when you shed huge amounts of the virus from your nose.”

The NHS also released four top tips to avoid spreading colds:

- Avoid contact with other people

- Wash your hands frequently

- Avoid touching your nose and eyes

- Use disposable tissues and bin used ones promptly

For more information on colds and flu visit the Staying Healthy section of the NHS Milton Keynes website ot the common cold page on the NHS Choices website.

News

Looking for...

Featured advertisers

Jobs

Search for a job

Motors

Search for a car

Make Model Price from Price to

Property

Search for a house

Buy Rent

Bedrooms Price from Price from Price to Price to

What is a Cookie?
What is a Flash Cookie?
Can I opt out of receiving Cookies?
About our Cookies

Cookies are small data files which are sent to your browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome etc) from a website you visit. They are stored on your electronic device.
This is a type of cookie which is collected by Adobe Flash media player (it is also called a Local Shared Object) - a piece of software you may already have on your electronic device to help you watch online videos and listen to podcasts.
Yes there are a number of options available, you can set your browser either to reject all cookies, to allow only "trusted" sites to set them, or to only accept them from the site you are currently on.

However, please note - if you block/delete all cookies, some features of our websites, such as remembering your login details, or the site branding for your local newspaper may not function as a result.
The types of cookies we, our ad network and technology partners use are listed below:
- Revenue Science ►
  
  A tool used by some of our advertisers to target adverts to you based on pages you have visited in the past. To opt out of this type of targeting you can visit the 'Your Online Choices' website by clicking here.
- Google Ads ►
  
  Our sites contain advertising from Google; these use cookies to ensure you get adverts relevant to you. You can tailor the type of ads you receive by visiting here or to opt out of this type of targeting you can visit the 'Your Online Choices' website by clicking here.
- Webtrends / Google Analytics ►
  
  This is used to help us identify unique visitors to our websites. This data is anonymous and we cannot use this to uniquely identify individuals and their usage of the sites.
- Dart for Publishers ►
  
  This comes from our ad serving technology and is used to track how many times you have seen a particular ad on our sites, so that you don't just see one advert but an even spread. This information is not used by us for any other type of audience recording or monitoring.
- ComScore ►
  
  ComScore monitor and externally verify our site traffic data for use within the advertising industry. Any data collected is anonymous statistical data and cannot be traced back to an individual.
- Local Targeting ►
  
  Our Classified websites (Photos, Motors, Jobs and Property Today) use cookies to ensure you get the correct local newspaper branding and content when you visit them. These cookies store no personally identifiable information.
- Grapeshot ►
  
  We use Grapeshot as a contextual targeting technology, allowing us to create custom groups of stories outside out of our usual site navigation. Grapeshot stores the categories of story you have been exposed to. Their privacy policy and opt out option can be accessed here.
- Subscriptions Online ►
  
  Our partner for Newspaper subscriptions online stores data from the forms you complete in these to increase the usability of the site and enhance user experience.
- Add This ►
  
  Add This provides the social networking widget found in many of our pages. This widget gives you the tools to bookmark our websites, blog, share, tweet and email our content to a friend.
- 3rd Party Cookies ►
  
  We use Advertising agencies to provide us with some of the advertising on our websites. These include (but are not limited to) Specific Media, The Rubicon Project, AdJug, AdConion, Context Web. Please click on the provider name to visit their opt-out page.

NHS issues ‘don’t spread colds’ warning

Top stories

News