Feel a cold or flu coming on? Here's some health tips to keep the bugs at bay this season.

Take a shot

Forget about bird flu, 2000 Aussies will die from regular flu this year. 'Despite SARS and bird flu being in the news, the common garden-variety flu kills up to 2000 people a year - more than the national road toll,' Professor Ian Gust says. He's a leading influenza expert and director of Melbourne's World Health Organisation Collaborating Centre for Influenza. While the flu vaccine, ideally taken around April, is free for everyone older than 65 and anyone suffering a chronic illness, immunisation is worth considering for any healthy adult. It's not currently recommended for healthy children.

Don't go public

If you kiss your partner while sick, they're at risk of catching your cold or flu. 'In more than 50 per cent of cases, close physical contact will pass on a cold or flu,' Professor Gust says. So if you are under the weather, avoid kissing and cover your mouth, because coughs and sneezes spread diseases. Also, avoid crowded places such as buses, bars and cinemas to avoid passing on the illness. 'Colds and influenza are generally the most communicable in the first few days of an illness, though many people still go to work, thinking they can soldier on,' Professor Gust says. 'However, from a public health perspective, this puts other workers at risk.'

Get the diagnosis
'In many cases, people who think they have the flu really have a cold,' Professor Gust says. 'Influenza typically causes a fever, severe aches and pains, headaches, extreme fatigue and a dry cough. Colds are usually characterised by a blocked and runny nose, sneezing and sometimes a sore throat. Influenza is a serious illness, likely to put you in bed for up to a week, while a cold will generally just make you feel a little bit unwell and is much milder than influenza. The symptoms of a cold are localised to the head, while influenza symptoms involve other body systems.'

Blow it away
Available on supermarket shelves, antiviral tissues promise to kill cold viruses within minutes according to clinical trials. They also claim to be effective against rhinoviruses, influenza A and B and respiratory syncytial virus, the leading cause of lower respiratory infection in children. But are they just a band-aid solution? 'The tissues don't do any harm and are useful for cleansing surfaces that may have been contaminated,' Professor Gust says. 'However, they're unlikely to prevent person-to-person transmission, as droplets can contaminate others when they're not holding the tissue in front of their nose.'

Shorten the time

You can decrease the amount of time you suffer a cold or flu. 'While moderate doses of vitamin C can't hurt, there's no evidence it can completely cure a cold or flu,' Professor says. 'However, Relenza and Tamiflu - two antiviral agents which should be taken within 48 hours of developing cold or flu symptoms - will dramatically reduce the severity and can shorten the illness by a day or two. Drugs such as paracetamol can help reduce fever. Antibiotics are ineffective against a flu or cold virus, but if the patient develops a secondary bacterial infection (sinusitis or pneumonia), your doctor may then prescribe a course of antibiotics.'

Other things that can help soothe a fluey soul?
Chicken soup, hot lemon and honey drinks, saline drops to hydrate the nose and even a shot of whiskey are other old-fashioned remedies that can help you feel better.

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