Washing your hands for at least 20 seconds each time can help protect you from getting sick. Washing your hands frequently helps prevent the spread of infection.

Use plain soap and water, making sure to pay attention to spaces between fingers, and under the fingernails.

Rinse and dry with a clean towel.

Teach your children to wash their hands properly.

If soap and water is not available, alcohol-based hand sanitizers are a good alternative.

Make sure to wash hands after sneezing or coughing, and before handling food.

Viruses can enter your body through your nose, mouth, and eyes. It is important to avoid touching your face if you are exposed to a person with a cold, especially if you have not washed your hands.

Smoking tobacco products irritates and damages the throat and lungs, and can worsen cold symptoms – which already include a sore throat and cough. Even second-hand tobacco smoke (exhaled by other people) can irritate the respiratory tract. A study also found the anti-viral response in smokers may become suppressed, making them less able to fight off infection.

If a family member has a cold virus infection, it is important to ensure that the items used by that person are not used by other family members. Have that sick family member use separate kitchenware that must be thoroughly washed and disinfected before putting it on the shared shelf.

Clean all household surfaces frequently to keep them germ-free. Viruses can live on surfaces for several hours after being touched by an infected person. Pay attention to the areas you touch most often and use soap and water or disinfectant cleaners to wipe down doorknobs, keyboards, phones, remote controls, desks, toys, countertops, taps and their handles, as well as drawer handles.

Cloth towels can contain viruses for hours after being touched, just as many surfaces do. To avoid contamination, use disposable paper towels to clean up in the kitchen and to dry your hands after washing.

Children are four times more likely to get a cold than adults, and often the common cold virus is spread by contact with toys. When you clean all the household surfaces, remember to clean your child’s toys too.

You’ll probably use a lot of tissues if you have a cold, but be sure you throw them away after each use. Even a small sneeze into one tissue will harbour the virus for hours and if placed on a table or countertop, it can contaminate the surface, thereby increasing the risk of infection for your family members.

1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): “Common Cold and Runny Nose.”
2. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): “Common Colds: Protect Yourself and Others.”
3. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): “Seasonal Influenza (Flu) – How To Clean and Disinfect Schools To Help Slow the Spread of Flu.”
4. UpToDate: “Patient information: The Common Cold in Adults (Beyond the Basics).”
5. UpToDate: “Patient information: The Common Cold in Adults: Diagnosis and Clinical Features.”
6. Yale School of Medicine: “Study Shows Why Cigarette Smoke Makes Flu, Other Viral Infections Worse.”