Preventing colds

Advice & tips

Preventing colds

  • Preventive measures
  • Everyday virus risks
  • Support and helpful home remedies
    in addition to treatment with Esberitox®

They are all around, lurking on door handles, keyboards and telephones, mercilessly exploiting every weakness in our immune system: We're talking about cold viruses. Right now, in the wet and cold season, is when flu-like infections are at their peak. It's worth knowing, then, what the most common risks of infection are, how germs spread – and how you can prevent colds.

There are a lot of things you can do to protect yourself: making sure you eat a balanced diet, using a sauna regularly or prioritising quality sleep. It's hard to believe, but even laughter can help.

In our advice on "Preventing colds" you will found a lot of tips & tricks to help you strengthen your immune system.

Everyday virus risks

Droplet infection

You can catch a cold from people coughing or sneezing nearby. But viruses can even enter another person's respiratory tract while you're having a conversation with them. Droplet infection can also happen indirectly. In an aeroplane, for example, it is often not just the person sitting right next to a sick person who is at high risk of infection, but everyone else in the cabin via the ventilation system. Droplet infections naturally occur more often when a large number of people are gathered together in a small space, such as in a crowded lift, school classroom or an open-plan office.

Surface transmission

Most of us do it without thinking: we touch our faces with our hands, especially when we are stressed or concentrating – up to 400 times a day. When we have a cold, viruses can spread easily in this way from the nose and mouth to the hands and are then transferred to objects that the sick person touches. The next person to come into contact with these surfaces is then at risk of catching a flu-like infection. Objects that are touched by many different people pose a particularly high risk of infection. The more people who come into contact with an object, the greater the likelihood is that one of them will contaminate it with viruses.

Prevention: washing hands

The problem is that being aware of the risk of infection is often not much help on its own, because in most cases you can't avoid touching the objects concerned. That's why proper hand hygiene is key to avoiding infection.

Handwashing is the number one priority!

The Robert Koch Institute recommends washing your hands for at least 30 seconds with warm water and soap.

You can prevent colds with these home remedies:

  1. Hot lemon: Drink hot lemon 3 times a day if possible to keep your vitamin C levels topped up.
  2. Eat plenty of protein-rich foods such as quark, natural yoghurt or fish.
  3. For their anti-inflammatory effects, boil fresh ginger or sage and steep.
For more tips, see the Classic home remedies section  

Advice on

„Preventing colds“

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