As a truck driver you cannot afford to take time off because you get sick. With the flu season in action and the common head cold going around everywhere you look; we cannot afford for a head cold to turn into with something worst like the Flu.
Here are some flu myths that where debunked just in time for the flu season.
Myth 1: Does hand sanitizer really protect you for getting sick?
From 2005-2006, a Boston-based doctor published a clinical trial of alcohol-based hand sanitizers in the home. They enrolled around 300 families with young children in day care. For a few months, half the families received free hand sanitizer. They where also told to stick to a rigorous hand cleaning schedule. What they found was the spread of respiratory infections in homes did not change. At Columbia University a study also found no decrease in infections among inner-city families that where given free Hand sanitizers and cleaning supplies.
They study pointed out that three out of four studies showed that alcohol hand sanitizers did not decrease or prevent respiratory infections. In another 2008 study, the Boston group repeated the study in an elementary schools giving away free Clorox disinfecting wipes for the classrooms. Again, the rate of respiratory infections did not decline. The truth is that hand sanitizers clean your hands, and not the air you breathe; with the flu being spread through the air cleaning yours hands are not really doing much.
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/prescriptions/2010/02/how_to_sell_germ_warfare.html
Myth 2: Does going outside with no coat on or having a drafty home cause you to be more inclined to catch a cold or flu?
Is there really any correlation between cold and germs, and your body's immune system ability to handle winter's icy chill? Cold and flu season do peak during the winter months, yet the connection has more to do with people now are spending more time indoors closer to one another, allowing germs to transfer from one another easier. It's also because the air is a lot dryer in the winter when it is colder, and germs spread easier in dry air. So it's not the cold weather that causes the illness, but it just makes it easier to get sick.
http://coldflu.about.com/od/cold/f/coldandweather.htm
http://www.personal.psu.edu/afr3/blogs/SIOW/2010/10/wear-a-coat-or-youll-get-sick-or-will-you.html
Myth 3: The flu vaccine can give you the flu.
A lot of time you hear of people getting sick after they get the flu shot. There are a number of reasons that you may get sick after you get a flu shot and it is not because of the flu shot. First, it takes two weeks to develop the immunity to influenza after you get the flu shot vaccine. If you get the flu within two weeks of getting the shot, then you were most likely exposed to the virus before or after you the vaccine you had could take effect. Second, you could have another illness that leads you to believe that you have the flu because they have flu-like symptoms. Last, each year there are different types of flu strains and researches are trying to predict which strains are going to be more common than others that season. Yes, the flu is a seasonal virus and that virus changes from year to year so if you do get the flu and had a shot; the strain of influenza that you got sick from was probably not covered in the shot.
http://coldflu.about.com/od/fluvaccinequestions/f/illafterflushot.htm
These where the biggest myths that we found with flu season just around the corner and with many people believing that there is not much you can do to prevent flu here are a couple suggestions that we found and may help keep you from getting the flu and/or lessening the flu if you are unlucky enough to get sick. Tamiflu, is a pill that you can take and Relenza is a inhaled medicine that are both most effective if taken within 48 hours of you first flu symptoms. Both of these do not cure the flu, but can reduce the amount of time it takes to recover from the flu by one or two day. They also make you less contagious to others and work very well with the typical strains of the seasonal flu as well as the swine flu.
All in all, truck drivers that need to be working in these busy times of the year cannot afford to take off the time that is needed to get over the flu. The trickle affect of being out of work for a couple of days can lead to less miles and less money so we hope this helps with trying to stay healthy for the holidays.
http://shine.yahoo.com/at-home/home-flu-proofing-myths-busted-163400939.html
http://www.decodedscience.com/prevent-the-flu-chitosan-in-air-filters-facemasks-and-hand-washing/5264
http://www.webmd.com/cold-and-flu/features/top-13-flu-myths?page=3
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