--- title: 6 Ways to Prevent A Cold | WeatherBug | WeatherBug description: There are several things you can do that will decrease the chance of you getting the cold. canonical: https://www.weatherbug.com/news/6-Ways-to-Prevent-A-Cold og:title: 6 Ways to Prevent A Cold | WeatherBug | WeatherBug og:description: There are several things you can do that will decrease the chance of you getting the cold. og:url: https://www.weatherbug.com/news/6-Ways-to-Prevent-A-Cold og:site_name: WeatherBug og:locale: en_US og:image: https://cms-assets-con.cdn.weatherbug.net/assets/contentitems/8e/8e57916d-b3a4-4bd6-adb4-2696d03db38b/52e0ce98-d40a-4283-82d1-d0fe816ebf4b/0de79e64-e414-4427-b635-ecd6048cb302.png og:image:width: 800 og:image:height: 600 og:image:alt: This 2009 photograph captured a sneeze in progress, revealing the plume of salivary droplets as they are expelled in a large cone-shaped array from this man`s open mouth, thereby dramatically illustrating the reason one needs to cover his/her mouth when coughing, or sneezing, in order to protect others from germ exposure. Courtesy: CDC Public Health Image Library ID 11162. og:type: article article:published_time: 2023-03-27T16:03:37Z article:modified_time: 2023-03-27T16:03:37Z article:author: By WeatherBug Sr. Meteorologist, James West article:tag: "cold & Flu" article:tag: sneeze twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 6 Ways to Prevent A Cold | WeatherBug twitter:description: There are several things you can do that will decrease the chance of you getting the cold. twitter:image: https://cms-assets-con.cdn.weatherbug.net/assets/contentitems/8e/8e57916d-b3a4-4bd6-adb4-2696d03db38b/52e0ce98-d40a-4283-82d1-d0fe816ebf4b/0de79e64-e414-4427-b635-ecd6048cb302.png --- [![](/_next/image?url=%2Ficons%2Fclose_white_bg.svg&w=64&q=75)](/) [Back to forecast](/) # 6 Ways to Prevent A Cold March 27, 2023 at 12:03 PM EDT By WeatherBug Sr. Meteorologist, James West ![This 2009 photograph captured a sneeze in progress, revealing the plume of salivary droplets as they are expelled in a large cone-shaped array from this man`s open mouth, thereby dramatically illustrating the reason one needs to cover his/her mouth when coughing, or sneezing, in order to protect others from germ exposure. Courtesy: CDC Public Health Image Library ID 11162.](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcms-assets-con.cdn.weatherbug.net%2Fassets%2Fcontentitems%2F8e%2F8e57916d-b3a4-4bd6-adb4-2696d03db38b%2F52e0ce98-d40a-4283-82d1-d0fe816ebf4b%2F0de79e64-e414-4427-b635-ecd6048cb302.png&w=3840&q=75) The common cold, with its sneezing, coughing, sore throats, runny nose, and headaches can zap your energy and make life miserable for days on end. However, there are several easy, time-tested things you can do that will decrease the chance of you getting the cold or passing it along if you catch it: * **Wash Your hands:** The cold virus easily enters through eyes and nose, often carried there on your hands. Washing hands and not touching eyes and nose will decrease the chance of catching a cold. * **Stop rubbing your Eyes and Nose** The viruses (there are at least 200 different ones) that cause the common cold enter the body through nose and eyes. The quickest way to get infected is to touch a door and then rub your nose. * **Cover Your Mouth:** When coughing or sneezing, cover nose and mouth with elbows or arm. Coughing into hands and then touching doors and water faucets will spread cold virus. * **Stay Home:** If you feel sick, stay home. Your friends and your coworkers will appreciate it if you keep the cold out of the office and their homes. * **Avoid Cold Sufferers:** if possible, avoid being close to people who show cold symptoms, if possible. * **Exercise:** Research suggests people who exercise regularly get the cold less than people who exercise less. Follow these simple steps will help reduce your chances of getting a cold. **Source:** U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention --- _Story image:_ This 2009 photograph captured a sneeze in progress, revealing the plume of salivary droplets as they are expelled in a large cone-shaped array from this man\`s open mouth, thereby dramatically illustrating the reason one needs to cover his/her mouth when coughing, or sneezing, in order to protect others from germ exposure. Courtesy: CDC Public Health Image Library ID 11162. We use technologies, such as cookies, to analyze your use (i.e., pages visited), to customize content, for our internal analytics purposes and for security and other purposes. By continuing to use this website, you agree to this usage. Please review our [privacy policy](/legal/privacy) for more details as well as for information on how to contact us to object to these activities. [Ad Choices](/legal/privacy#digitaladvertisingandyourchoices) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://www.weatherbug.com/news/6-Ways-to-Prevent-A-Cold"},"headline":"6 Ways to Prevent A Cold","description":"There are several things you can do that will decrease the chance of you getting the cold.","image":["https://cms-assets-con.cdn.weatherbug.net/assets/contentitems/8e/8e57916d-b3a4-4bd6-adb4-2696d03db38b/52e0ce98-d40a-4283-82d1-d0fe816ebf4b/0de79e64-e414-4427-b635-ecd6048cb302.png"],"datePublished":"2023-03-27T16:03:37Z","dateModified":"2023-03-27T16:03:37Z","dateCreated":"2023-03-27T16:03:37Z","articleSection":"Weather News","keywords":"\"cold & Flu\",sneeze","articleBody":"The common cold, with its sneezing, coughing, sore throats, runny nose, and headaches can zap your energy and make life miserable for days on end. However, there are several easy, time-tested things you can do that will decrease the chance of you getting the cold or passing it along if you catch it:\r\n\r\nFollow these simple steps will help reduce your chances of getting a cold.
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\r\nSource: U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention ---
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\r\nStory image: This 2009 photograph captured a sneeze in progress, revealing the plume of salivary droplets as they are expelled in a large cone-shaped array from this man`s open mouth, thereby dramatically illustrating the reason one needs to cover his/her mouth when coughing, or sneezing, in order to protect others from germ exposure. Courtesy: CDC Public Health Image Library ID 11162.","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"By WeatherBug Sr. Meteorologist, James West","url":"https://www.weatherbug.com"},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"WeatherBug","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://www.weatherbug.com/images/sharing/f1ff28ba-6f06-4745-a782-011a20397e16.png"}}} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"WebSite","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://www.weatherbug.com/news/6-Ways-to-Prevent-A-Cold","relatedLink":"https://www.weatherbug.com/news/6-Ways-to-Prevent-A-Cold"},"name":"WeatherBug","url":"https://www.weatherbug.com/news/6-Ways-to-Prevent-A-Cold","headline":"6 Ways to Prevent A Cold","description":"There are several things you can do that will decrease the chance of you getting the cold.","dateModified":"2023-03-27T16:03:37Z","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"WeatherBug","url":"https://www.weatherbug.com","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/WeatherBug","https://instagram.com/WeatherBug","https://www.linkedin.com/company/weatherbug","https://www.pinterest.com/weatherbug","https://twitter.com/WeatherBug","https://www.youtube.com/user/WeatherBugVideo"],"logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://www.weatherbug.com/images/logos/weatherbug_logo_620x447.png"}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"WeatherBug","url":"https://www.weatherbug.com","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/WeatherBug","https://instagram.com/WeatherBug","https://www.linkedin.com/company/weatherbug","https://www.pinterest.com/weatherbug","https://twitter.com/WeatherBug","https://www.youtube.com/user/WeatherBugVideo"],"logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://www.weatherbug.com/images/logos/weatherbug_logo_620x447.png"}}} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Organization","name":"WeatherBug","logo":"https://www.weatherbug.com/images/logos/weatherbug_logo_620x447.png","url":"https://www.weatherbug.com","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/WeatherBug","https://instagram.com/WeatherBug","https://www.linkedin.com/company/weatherbug","https://www.pinterest.com/weatherbug","https://twitter.com/WeatherBug","https://www.youtube.com/user/WeatherBugVideo"]} ```