Healthy habits to protect yourself from disease & infections?

Understand and protect against bacteria, viruses and infections

Read and Learn these healthy habits to protect yourself from disease and prevent germs and infectious diseases from spreading.

Difference between infection vs. disease

There’s a difference between infection and disease.
Infection, often the first step, occurs when bacteria, viruses or other microbes that cause disease enter your body and begin to multiply.
Disease occurs when the cells in your body are damaged — as a result of the infection — and signs and symptoms of an illness appear.

Warding off germs and infection

What’s the best way to stay disease-free? Prevent infections. You can prevent many infections and avoid spreading infections through simple tactics such as these:

• Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
• Cover coughs and sneezes.
• Avoid touching your face.
• Stay home if you’re sick.
• Clean and disinfect surfaces that are touched often.
• Avoid contaminated food and water.

You can also protect yourself or prevent infections through:

• Handle & Prepare Food Safely
• Wash Hands Everytime
• Clean & Disinfect Commonly Used Surfaces
• Cough & Sneeze Into Your Sleeve
• Don’t Share Personal Items
• Get Vaccinated
• Avoid Touching Wild Animals
• Stay Home When Sick

When to seek medical care

Seek medical care if you suspect that you have an infection and you have experienced:

• An animal or a human bite
• Difficulty breathing
• A cough lasting longer than a week
• Periods of rapid heartbeat
• A rash, especially if it’s accompanied by a fever
• Swelling
• Blurred vision or other difficulty seeing
• Persistent vomiting
• An unusual or severe headache

Your health care provider can perform diagnostic tests to find out whether you’re infected, how serious the infection is and how best to treat that infection.