K-STATE MICROBIOLOGIST DISCUSSES PREVENTION TIPS FOR COLD AND FLU SEASON

MANHATTAN -- Runny nose, aching head, fever and sore throat are common complaints about cold and flu season. To stay in good health, a Kansas State University expert on microbiology and immunology, offers some advice.

"Maintain those habits that promote general health," said George Marchin, associate professor of microbiology. "That would include an appropriate diet, occasional exercise, a good nights sleep once in a while, practicing good hygiene, consuming alcohol in moderation and taking a multivitamin once a day.

"Also try to maintain stress within reasonable limits," he said. "Stress has a direct influence on the immunological system by depressing immunological responses so you become more susceptible to viral infection."

Other recommended preventive measures such as a flu shot are also helpful, said Marchin. Especially for older adults and people who are immunal compromised. However, he says, even if you practice good health measures you will still probably get one or two colds a year.

"A real cure would involve a vaccine possibly that would be directed at hundreds of viruses and that's not typically going to happen, not going to happen soon at any rate," Marchin said. "Until then there are pharmacological agents that are coming out such as zinc lozenges that presumably reduce the length of a cold or the severe symptoms of a cold.

"And there's always the good old fashioned remedy of chicken soup," he said. "It's been found that some of the hot soups, besides making you feel good, stimulate mucus secretions that actually enhance secretory antibodies and nasal passages and actually have some beneficial effects."

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For more information contact George Marchin at 785-532-6635.

November 1999