By The LifeScript Editorial Staff The common cold or the flu can run you down for weeks. And the worst part is that life doesn’t stop while you’re home sipping chicken soup. Chores, errands and work pile up, and playing catch-up is the last thing you’ll want to do once you feel better. Upward of one billion colds plague Americans from October to March each year. But you don’t have to be one of them. Keep yourself out of the infirmary with these 10 tips for the cold and flu season… 1. Don’t Touch Keep your hands off any possible germ-infested surface (which accounts for just about everything), and off your face. Direct contact with a sick person, such as touching or kissing, is the #1 way germs are transmitted. Eighty percent of colds are spread by direct contact. Indirect contact, such as handling a doorknob that a sick person has touched (unbeknownst to you), and then spreading it to your face by touching your mouth, nose or eyes, is another common way germs travel from person to person. It’s impossible to stop touching everything, but you should be mindful of where your hands have been. Wash your hands regularly and don’t touch your own mucous membranes (eyes, nose, mouth) after handling people or objects. 2. Wash Up Proper hand-washing is especially important during the cold and flu season. But according to a 2007 study by the American Society for Microbiology and The Soap and Detergent Association, only 77% of men and women wash their…[...]

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Top 10 Cold and Flu Busters