How to Avoid Spreading a Cold or Other Virus

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1Preventing the Spread of Cold and Flu Germs

2Taking Extra Precautions if You're Sick

3Staying Healthy

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These days, it's more important than ever to make sure you're taking all of the steps you can to prevent spreading virus germs that can make you and your loved ones sick. Fortunately, some of the most effective steps for preventing the spread of disease are also the easiest. If you do get sick, there are also steps you can take to help prevent other people from becoming ill as well.

Steps

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Preventing the Spread of Cold and Flu Germs

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   Wash your hands often. The best way that you can help prevent the spread of germs is to wash your hands frequently with soap and water. Wash your hands for 20 seconds, making sure to scrub your palms, the backs of your hands and fingers, under your fingernails, and around your thumbs. Then, rinse your hands thoroughly.

   • Especially be sure to wash your hands before you eat or prepare food, after you handle raw meat, after you touch an animal, or if you touch anything that might have been handled by someone who was sick.
   • If you can't wash your hands right away, use an alcohol-based sanitizer to disinfect your hands in the meantime.
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   Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth. It can be really hard, but try to break the habit of touching your face throughout the day. That includes being careful not to rub your eyes, scratch your nose, or bite your nails, because virus germs can more easily enter your body from these areas.

   • If you're having a hard time not touching your face, try applying a scented lotion to your hands. That way, as you're reaching for your face, you might notice the scent and remember to stop.
   • Colds are spread via close contact with aerosolized particles from an infected person, like when they cough or sneeze. You can come into these particles from the air or from contaminated surfaces.
   • If you do need to touch your face, grab a tissue and use that instead of your fingers.
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   Sanitize all of the surfaces you touch regularly. Each day, use a disinfecting spray or sanitizing wipes to clean areas that you and your family touch often. That includes your countertops, doorknobs, toilet handles and seat, and even objects like your phone, steering wheel, and keys.

   • During a serious viral outbreak like COVID-19, you should take further steps, like disinfecting take-out food containers before you eat and limiting your trips to public places like the grocery store.
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   Don't share personal items with other people. To protect yourself, avoid sharing items like clothing, makeup, drinks, or utensils with anyone else, including members of your own household. That way, even if one person is sick, the virus will be less likely to spread to everyone else.

   Did You Know? Even if someone appears to be perfectly healthy, they could be carrying a virus without showing any signs of it. For example, a person may be able to spread COVID-19 for up to 5 days before they show any symptoms, and other people might be contagious even if they never show any symptoms at all.
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   Practice social distancing. If there's an illness going around, like during cold and flu season, try to limit your contact with other people. Those types of virus germs are often spread through droplets released when a person sneezes or coughs, so stay at least 6 ft (1.8 m) away from anyone who may be sick (and do the same if it's you that may be sick). That way, the virus will be less likely to spread.

   • In addition, avoid shaking hands, hugging, or kissing, and don't touch anything a sick person might have touched if you can help it.
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Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Taking Extra Precautions if You're Sick

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   Isolate yourself until all of your symptoms are gone. If you get sick with an illness like the cold, flu, or COVID-19, the best way to prevent spreading it to others is to stay home. If you live with other people, try to stay away from them as much as possible until you're feeling better. During this time, just focus on resting and drinking plenty of fluids until you feel better.

   • For instance, you might stay in your room and ask your family members not to come in at all. If someone is caring for you, ask them to leave your food, drinks, medications, and supplies outside of your door so they don't get exposed to the germs.
   • Typically, you'll remain contagious as long as you still have symptoms of your illness.

   Tip: If you need to go to the doctor for your illness, consider calling them first to tell them you believe you're contagious. That way, they can take any necessary steps to keep their staff and other patients safe if you need to come in.
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   Cover your cough or sneeze with your elbow or a tissue. Whenever you cough or sneeze, hold up a tissue to cover your nose and mouth. If you don't have one available, hold up your arm and cough or sneeze into the bend of your elbow.

   • This will help contain any germ-filled droplets that might otherwise escape and infect someone else.
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   Toss used tissues into the trash right away. If you cough or sneeze into a tissue, or if you use a tissue to wipe or blow your nose, throw the tissue into the trash immediately after using it. Don't put the tissue down on a table or countertop, because it could then contaminate that surface with germs.

   • Remember to wash your hands right away after you cough, sneeze, or blow your nose, even if you use a tissue.
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   Try to be even more diligent about sanitizing. If you know you're sick, it's crucial to cleanse surfaces you touch with disinfecting spray or wipes. This is especially important for surfaces and items that are touched often by others -- doorknobs, tables, countertops, and any shared devices, phones, or keyboards.
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   Don't share towels, bedding, or other items. If you're sick, make sure that you're using towels, bedding, and grooming items that are for you alone. Remind family members not to grab anything from your bedroom or bathroom.

   • When you're washing your bedding and towels, as well as your clothing, use the hottest temperature you can.
   • If someone else needs to wash these items for you, it may help to have them wear gloves to avoid contamination.
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   Wash your dishes with hot water and detergent. If you have a dishwasher, that's probably the easiest way to sanitize. Just opt for the hot setting to reduce the chances of germs surviving. If you need to wash by hand, you can use water that's hot to the touch but won't scald you, and be sure to use dish detergent and scrub and rinse each dish thoroughly.

   • Make sure you avoid sharing dishes, utensils, and anything else that's likely to carry germs.
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   Keep your windows open if possible. Air circulation may help prevent the spread of viruses like COVID-19 because it discourages the germs from lingering in the air. If it's a reasonably nice day outside, go ahead and air out your home!
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   Wear a face mask if you have to be around others. If you believe you've been exposed to an illness but you can't stay home, try wearing a face mask to contain any droplets in case you cough or sneeze. An N95 respirator, like the masks worn by medical professionals, is the most effective for preventing the spread of illness. However, even a simple fabric mask is likely more effective than not wearing any face covering at all.

   • Be sure your mask entirely covers your nose and mouth. Otherwise, it won't effectively prevent the spread of germs.
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Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Staying Healthy

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   Stay up-to-date on all of your vaccinations. Many viruses can be prevented with a simple vaccination, including a yearly flu shot. That way, your body will already have antibodies to fight off the illness in case you do get exposed. This protects the community, too, because if you don't get sick in the first place, you can't spread the illness to others.

   • Make sure your children are up-to-date on their vaccinations as well. Talk to your pediatrician or other health care provider if you have questions about your children's vaccine schedules.
   • If you're planning to travel out of the country where you live, talk to your doctor about whether you may need any additional vaccinations.
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   Prevent the spread of food-borne illnesses with proper food handling procedures. Some viruses, like norovirus, can be spread through contaminated food. To help prevent that, avoid eating undercooked foods like eggs, shellfish, poultry, and pork. In addition, sanitize your kitchen tools and surfaces thoroughly after you prepare raw meat.

   • It's also smart to drink filtered or bottled water if you're somewhere that may have a contaminated water supply.
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   Practice safe sex to prevent spreading STIs. Some viruses, like hepatitis or HIV, are spread through unprotected sex. To help prevent that, use condoms unless you're certain you're in a monogamous relationship where both of you are negative for sexually transmitted diseases.

   • The only way to be sure you're STI-free is to get tested, so talk to your doctor about getting screened before having unprotected sex with your partner.
   • If you're an intravenous drug user, don't share needles, as this can spread dangerous viruses as well.
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   Teach any children in your home how to stay healthy. To help keep your whole family safe, start teaching your children safe habits as early as possible, including washing their hands frequently and the proper way to cover their sneeze or cough. Making these hygiene steps feel normal from the beginning will make it much easier for your kids to remember when it's most important, like during flu season or when there's an outbreak like COVID-19.

   • Unfortunately, kids are especially prone to picking up germs. That's because they're more likely to touch a contaminated surface, then put their hands on their face or in their mouth.
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