From sniffling and sneezing to body aches and exhaustion, getting sick is no fun. While illnesses are a normal part of life, you can take steps to prevent especially common ones and lower your odds of passing one on.
Our expert team at Internal Medicine of Greater New Haven, with multiple Connecticut locations, diagnoses and treats common illnesses to protect your health and well-being.
Here’s a look at six common illnesses and ways to keep them from spreading.
Respiratory infections are the most common contagious illnesses. They affect one or more parts of your respiratory system, such as your lungs, nose, and throat.
Six especially prevalent infections include:
Most everyone in the United States acquires a respiratory infection of some sort each year. Factors like your age determine your risk factors for them. Strep throat, for example, often affects children ages 5-15. Young children and older adults are especially prone to colds.
You’re more likely to develop a respiratory illness if you have a weakened immune system due to chronic diseases like diabetes and HIV/AIDS.
The best way to prevent the spread of common illnesses is avoiding getting them yourself. And many efforts that protect you from illness also lower your odds of passing one on.
For illnesses like COVID-19 and the flu, vaccines provide a top line of defense. Not only will you be less likely to catch the illness once vaccinated, but your risk of severe symptoms that spread infections to others goes down significantly. Flu vaccines can also guard against pneumonia and bronchitis.
More preventive steps to take include:
Leading an overall healthy lifestyle can help protect you from illnesses, too, by bolstering your immune system. Smart habits include eating a healthy diet, exercising regularly, getting enough sleep, and managing stress.
Efforts to protect yourself, loved ones, coworkers, and acquaintances from illness can have far-reaching benefits. In addition to avoiding the hassle and discomfort of infection, preventive measures lower the risk of complications.
Avoiding getting or spreading COVID-19, for example, can lower your odds of post-COVID conditions, such as chronic fatigue, long COVID, and multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS).
To learn more about illness prevention or get the personalized care you need, contact us at Internal Medicine of Greater New Haven today. We have offices in Cheshire, Guilford, Hamden, Milford, North Haven, Meriden, Wallingford, West Haven, and Stratford, Connecticut.
