Category: infections, vaccination, and hygiene

How To Cope With Winter Illness

As winter brings respiratory illnesses like colds and flu, it’s essential to understand symptoms such as fever, cough, and sore throat. While most recover, high-risk individuals should seek medical help. Stay home, wash hands frequently, use medications wisely, and be patient with recovery, which may take days to weeks.

updated January 2, 2025

This information is current as of the date of original publication or update but may have changed by the time you read this. Do not use this information for diagnosis or treatment purposes. Before making health decisions, discuss with a qualified healthcare professional.

What are the symptoms of winter illnesses?

Chances are you or someone close to you will have a respiratory illness this winter, illnesses we frequently lump into the category of “colds and flu”.  This usually means illnesses with some combination of these symptoms-

  • Sneezing, stuffy  or runny nose,
  • coughing
  • sore throat, hoarseness
  • ear pain, fullness
  • fever,
  • body aches, fatigue, 
  • nausea, vomiting, diarrhea 
  • headache.

We call these by various names but they have much in common, including symptoms and treatment. Let’s talk about what you can do to cope when they hit your family.

diagram of the nose and sinuses
Winter illnesses commonly affect the nose, throat, sinuses, ears and lungs.

Don’t panic.

Most otherwise healthy people recover from common respiratory illnesses. You may be miserable for several days and need several weeks to feel back to normal, but you won’t suffer any permanent harm.

Fever , especially in children, alarms parents. Don’t ignore it but don’t panic either.

Reading this post should help you keep calm about fever .

a woman taking her temperature
This photograph depicted a woman who was using a modern, battery-powered oral thermometer, in order to measure her body temperature. In order to return an accurate reading, this particular type of thermometer needed to be placed beneath the user’s tongue, for a set amount of time, beeping when the ambient, sublingual temperature was reached. Photo credit-James Gathany, CDC, public domain

Some people are at risk of developing severe symptoms and serious complications from respiratory illnesses, so seek medical help sooner, rather than later. These include

  • Infants, especially under one month old
  • Elderly,  now a relative term, advanced age, especially combined with chronic disease
  • Those with chronic lung disease, like asthma, COPD, emphysema, cystic fibrosis
  • People on drugs that suppress the immune system
  • Other chronic diseases – diabetes, liver disease, kidney disease, heart disease, cancer 

If you are not sure if you fit into one of these categories, ask your doctor.

Check here for tips on the difference between a cold (acute rhino-sinusitis) and flu (influenza)

rhinoceros
“Rhino” obviously means NOSE.

What you need to know about influenza. 

Stay home.

This is when you shouldn’t share—germs, that is. These illnesses spread from person to person, so minimize contact.

Keep your kids home from school and stay home from work, at least the first few days, when you are the most contagious. Avoid crowds and public gatherings when there is widespread illness in your community.

Resting, getting extra sleep, drinking fluids, and staying warm and dry make staying at home therapeutic.

Wash hands.

Speaking of person-to-person contact, the best way to avoid getting or giving germs is to wash your hands often, but especially after being with others , using a restroom,  and before cooking or eating. Cleaning household surfaces helps too, as well as clothing and linens.

Hand hygiene saves lives.
a common sight now in public restrooms

Use medication wisely.

Some of these illnesses have a specific medication that clear it faster- strep throat, influenza, pneumonia. The others will “run their course” and meds are used to help relieve symptoms.

Many people assume that any illness with fever, sore throat, and cough will improve with an antibiotic. The fact is, most will not. Antibiotics only treat infections caused by bacteria, and most of these are caused by viruses. To learn more read about

How flu and COVID-19 are different

How to navigate the antibiotic highway 

These illnesses cause the greatest overuse of antibiotics, contribute to the cost of health care, and the development of antibiotic resistance. Please do not insist on an antibiotic if the doctor says you don’t need it; if offered an antibiotic, ask why.

6 smart facts about antibiotic use

Does nasal drainage and congestion need treatment with an antibiotic?

Maybe not. Learn how to sort out sinusitis.

WebMD offers this advice on choosing non-prescription cold remedies

The “24-hour virus” is for the most part a myth. Expect to be ill anywhere from 3 to 10 days; some symptoms, especially cough, can linger for weeks. If you are a smoker, this is a great time to quit. 

But if after 7-10 days you are getting progressively worse, instead of better, something more may be going on, so it’s wise to seek professional medical help.

exploring the HEART of winter illness

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Dr. Aletha

Surviving Ebola, “Called for Life”- Dr. Kent Brantly

Dr. Kent Brantly awoke feeling ill- muscle aches, fever, sore throat, headache and nausea. As his condition progressively worsened to include difficulty breathing, he learned the cause of his illness- the Ebola virus.

 

I’m glad you’re reading this post. Why not try an expanded and updated version at this link?

The Good Samaritans Fighting Ebola 

 

 

“Not the glittering weapon fights the fight, says the proverb, but rather the hero’s heart.Maybe this is true in any battle; it is surely true of a war that is waged with bleach and a prayer.”

Nancy Gibbs, Time magazine, 2014

Called for Life: How Loving Our Neighbor Led Us into the Heart of the Ebola Epidemic.

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Dr. Kent Brantly, missionary physician to Liberia

Dr. Kent Brantly awoke feeling ill- muscle aches, fever, sore throat, headache and nausea. As his condition progressively worsened to include difficulty breathing, he learned the cause of his illness- the Ebola virus. Having spent the past few weeks caring for patients caught up in the Ebola epidemic that swept Liberia in the spring of 2014, Dr. Brantly had contracted the disease himself, and would likely die, as almost all victims do.

Dr. Brantly, a graduate of Indiana University’s School of Medicine, had volunteered to work at ELWA Hospital in Liberia which was receiving aid from Samaritan’s Purse, an international relief organization. This hospital served as Monrovia’s Ebola treatment center and Dr. Brantly headed the unit.

As his condition deteriorated, his physicians decided his only hope for recovery was use of an experimental drug, ZMapp, previously untested on humans. Since otherwise he was likely to die, he received the drug by infusion into a vein. By the next morning he felt well enough to arise from bed and shower. Unknown to him, thousands of people around the world had been praying for him.

During this time his colleague, nurse Nancy Writebol, was battling her own Ebola infection. She also was treated with ZMapp.

Samaritan’s Purse arranged for both of them to be evacuated to the United States. There, they could continue receiving supportive medical care, as well as allow infectious disease specialists to learn from their conditions. It also would relieve the workload on the doctors who continued to care for Ebola patients at ELWA.

Dr. Brantly and his wife Amber, who had just left Liberia to return home for a visit, wrote a book about their experience,Called for Life.

sharing the HEART of health

Dr. Aletha