Health and Beauty

1908

Spanish Influenza - How to Escape Influenza

To escape influenza two things are essential. First, avoid the infection; and second, keep fit in body and mind.

I. To avoid the infection, the following points should be observed:

1. Do not mingle with other people more than absolutely necessary. Especially avoid crowds anywhere indoors,— in street cars, trains, or buildings.
2. Avoid persons suffering of colds, sore throat, and coughs.
3. Keep your hands clean, and keep them out of your mouth.
4. Avoid expectorating in public places, and see that others do likewise.
5. Gargle your throat frequently every day with a saline solution. An inexpensive but effective solution may be made with one teaspoonful of salt dissolved in a pint of warm water.
6. The wearing of a mask over the nose and mouth may also be very helpful. Such a mask is made of four to six layers of ordinary cheesecloth, saturated with a little listerine. If listerine is not available, the mask may be worn without it. In either case, such masks should be frequently renewed, the discarded ones beih~ disinfected by boiling or thorough wash-ing with soap and water.
7. Avoid visiting the sick, unless you are acting as a nurse and taking all the precautions possible to escape the infection.

II. As to keeping fit in body and mind, the following suggestions may well be observed:

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