The flu shot is the single best way to prevent the flu. You can also avoid getting and spreading viruses by:

• Washing your hands often with soap and warm water
• Avoiding people with colds when possible
• Cleaning surfaces you touch with a germ-killing disinfectant
• Using a tissue when you sneeze or cough
• Not touching your nose, eyes or mouth before washing your hands. Germs can enter your body easily by these paths.

• Stay home and rest, especially while you have a fever
• Stop smoking and avoid secondhand smoke, which can make cold symptoms worse
• Drink plenty of fluids like water, fruit juice and clear soups
• Gargle with warm salt water a few times a day to relieve a sore throat

Medicine can't cure a cold or the flu, and antibiotics don’t work against viruses. Over-the-counter (OTC) medicine can, however, help relieve some of your cold or flu symptoms. Read labels carefully. If you have questions, talk to your physician/provider or pharmacist. The ingredients listed below are found in many cold and flu medicines:

• Analgesics such as acetaminophen (Tylenol), ibuprofen (Advil) and naproxen (Aleve) relieve aches and pains and reduce fever
• Antitussives with the active ingredient dextromethorphan (Robitussin) may help with a cough
• Oral decongestants with the active ingredient phenylephrine (Sudafed PE) can reduce congestion

In general, anyone who wants to reduce his or her chances of getting the flu can get vaccinated. However, certain people who are at high risk of having serious flu complications, or people who live with or care for those at high risk for serious complications, should get vaccinated each year:

• 6 months to 5 years of age
• Pregnant women
• People 50 years of age and older
• People of any age with certain chronic medical conditions
• People who live with or provide care to children less than six months of age (these children are too young to be vaccinated)
• People who live with or care for those at high risk for serious complications
• Health care workers
• People who living in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities

Each year, new flu vaccines are made to protect against the types of influenza expected to cause illness that year. Contact your medical provider or Providence Medical Group to determine if you should get a flu vaccination this year.

If you need help finding a physician who can help diagnose and treat the flu, please call the New Patient Scheduling Line: 503-582-2185.

Traveler’s diarrhea is probably the most common health problem that travelers encounter. Depending on where you go, the risk of contracting it may be as high as 50 percent. To protect yourself, pay close attention to what you eat and drink, and perform good hand hygiene. In many countries, tap water should be considered off limits. Don’t even brush your teeth or rinse your mouth with tap water – it doesn’t take many bacteria to make you sick. Drink only bottled or boiled water. Avoid ice cubes, unless you’ve made them yourself from purified water – freezing does not kill all the bacteria. Cook or peel all fruits and vegetables before eating. And wash your hands thoroughly and often with soap and hot water (tap water is fine for washing and bathing). Read more about water and food safety, as well as malaria and other issues, in these International Travel FAQs.

If you do develop traveler’s diarrhea, over-the-counter Imodium can offer some relief. When patients at Providence St. Vincent Traveler’s Clinic tell us that they are planning to visit a country where we know the risk of traveler’s diarrhea is high, we also may write a prescription for antibiotics, which they can fill here and take with them. If problems arise during their travels, they can take the medication, which will speed recovery from three or four miserable days to a vacation-saving 12 to 24 hours.

As long as your medicine is in its original bottle, with your name on it and the doctor’s name on it, you won’t have any problem. In some countries, travelers are sometimes hassled for bringing in narcotic medications. But according to international law, if it’s in the original bottle with your name on it and you need it for your health, you have a legal right to take it with you into another country.

In a basic first-aid kit for travel, the following items might be useful:

• A pain reliever, such as acetaminophen or ibuprofen
• An antihistamine in case you develop allergy symptoms
• Imodium, which I mentioned, as an antidiarrheal
• A decongestant in case of a cold
• Bandages, which help cushion blisters if you do a lot of walking
• Insect repellant containing 30 percent DEET, if you are going to a country where insect-borne diseases like malaria and dengue fever are prevalent

Beyond that, unless you are going way off the beaten path, you can usually buy what you need at a local pharmacy, wherever your destination.

As a specialist in travel medicine, this is the question I hear most often. To investigate on your own, probably the most user-friendly online resource for this type of information is the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which offers a Travelers’ Health website at www.cdc.gov. This site provides some good general guidelines about the immunization recommendations and requirements of different countries. However, it’s important to understand that when you travel outside of your own country, it’s more than just shots that you need to consider. To get more detailed health-risk information, tailored to your health and destination, it’s best to be evaluated in person at a clinic that specializes in travel health.

At Providence St. Vincent Traveler’s Clinic, we meet with you before you travel, do a full risk assessment of your itinerary, and provide you with not only the necessary shots, but also strategies and advice to help you reduce or eliminate a broad spectrum of travel-related health risks. And just in case you do fall ill in another country, we can equip our patients with contact information for English-speaking, Western-trained physicians in almost any country on the planet.

You need to be immunized. Many people believe, incorrectly, that living in a country builds permanent immunity to that country’s most common infectious diseases. It doesn’t. In my experience, the people who are most likely to get ill while traveling are those who bypass vaccinations in the mistaken belief that they are already immune.

The last word on vaccinations: it’s just as important for adults as it is for kids to stay up to date on routine vaccinations. Keeping current on immunizations against tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis (which are all included in one shot now), pneumonia, shingles, the flu and other common illnesses are an important part of routine care, whether or not you travel. If you haven’t updated these routine vaccinations in a while, review them with your primary care doctor.

The last word on vacations: Don’t risk an illness ruining the trip of a lifetime. If you want to see the world, first see a travel clinic. Safe travels!