Page 23 - Florida Sentinel 12-13-19

Health
• Flu
You’re most
likely to infect some-
oneelseinthe3to4
days after you start
to feel sick, but you
remain contagious as
long as you have
symptoms. Usually
this is about a week,
but it could be a few days more for children or people with weak immune systems. You can also pass it on a day or so before you start feel- ing sick. Some people can transfer the virus without ever getting symptoms.
• Cold
A cold often
starts with a runny
nose and sore throat,
followed by coughing
and sneezing. You’re
contagious a day or
two before this starts
and for as long as
you feel sick, usually
a week or two. It may be longer if you already have breathing problems or a weak immune system. You’re more likely to infect others dur- ing in the first few days, when symptoms are at their worst.
• Shingles Once you’ve
had chicken-
pox, the virus
lives on inside
your body. It
may come back
later, often in
middle age, as
shingles, a painful, blistering rash. The chickenpox virus lives inside these blis- ters. Although the liquid that oozes out can’t give someone else shingles, it can give them chickenpox if they haven’t had it and haven’t been vaccinated.
• Poison Ivy Like its
cousins, poison
oak and poison
sumac, its
leaves have an
oily sap (urush-
iol) that can
make your skin
red, swollen, and itchy. Until you wash it off with soap and water, you can pass the oil to someone who touches it, or to other parts of your body. Cool showers and calamine lotion can help relieve the itch. It should be gone in a week or two.
• Chest Cold Sometimes called
bronchitis, it hap-
pens when regular
cold symptoms move
down to inflame your
lungs, which makes
you cough. But
whether it’s a cold, the flu, or some other virus, the rule of thumb is the same: You’re contagious for as long as you have symptoms, and maybe a little bit longer. To stop the spread, keep your hands clean at all times and cover your mouth when you sneeze or cough.
• Measles Worldwide,
thousands die
yearly from
this virus, most
under age 5. It
causes a dry
cough, sore
throat, runny nose, fever, and a distinc- tive rash of tiny red bumps, some raised. It spreads easily, hanging around in the air for 2 hours after you cough or sneeze. Once the rash appears, you’ve already been contagious for 4 days. You’ll stay that way for 4 days after it goes away.
• Norovirus
It can cause diar-
rhea, nausea, stom-
ach pain, vomiting,
headache, fever, and
body aches. Just a
few norovirus parti-
cles (your body sheds
billions) can infect
another person, most often by touching food or kitchen tools. You’re most contagious when you’re sick and for a few days after, but you can still spread it for 2 weeks or more after you feel better. Clean your hands regularly and wash food thoroughly to prevent spreading norovirus.
• Mononucleosis This viral illness
is also known as the
kissing disease be-
cause that’s one of
the ways you can pass
it on to others. You
might be contagious
from the moment
you’re infected, and that isn’t good because it often takes 4-7 weeks before you notice any of its flu-like symptoms. You can spread the dis- ease the entire time you have it. Even once you feel better, you may be able to pass on the virus for as long as 18 months.
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2019 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 11-B