• Question: Is there anything we can do to lower the risks of us getting infections and diseases?

    Asked by jjnsarson to Anna, Chris, Jane, Iain, Nick on 11 Mar 2014.
    • Photo: Iain Moal

      Iain Moal answered on 11 Mar 2014:

      Of course. The first is to be hygienic – keep clean and wash your hand after going to the toilet and so on. The second is to keep healthy – eat a balanced diet, exercise, and don’t smoke or drink a lot of alcohol.

    • Photo: Chris Cole

      Chris Cole answered on 12 Mar 2014:

      I agree totally with Iain.

      Also get vaccinated. Vaccines are the absolute best way to avoid getting serious infectious diseases. The last 40 years have proved how safe and effective they are.

    • Photo: Anna Middleton

      Anna Middleton answered on 12 Mar 2014:

      Hi @jjnsarson in addition to the great answers given by Iain and Chris the best thing to do in third world countries to keep healthy is to drink clean water. Dirty water and the infections contained in it, are one of the biggest killers in the world

    • Photo: Jane Charlesworth

      Jane Charlesworth answered on 13 Mar 2014:

      As Iain said, hygiene is often very important in preventing the spread of disease, but some bacteria and viruses are hard to avoid because they form spores that hot water and soap can’t kill. Vaccination also helps-if enough people get vaccinated then even if some people get missed, enough people will be immune to the disease that it won’t be able to spread. Finally, if your doctor gives you antibiotics for a bacterial infection, follow their instructions about taking them! This is really important because it means you will kill as many bacteria as possible and that will help prevent them from evolving resistance to the antibiotic.

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