Diseases during War times; Common Colds!
By: Alaa Babiker
Diseases are more likely to spread at crisis times; earthquakes, critically poor living conditions, and prolonged conflicts and wars causing massive migration, specially when people are forced to pass through and live in completely new conditions. These conditions are mostly of difficult natures, more dry and containing different factors like the presence of scorpions and wild deadly spiders in some areas of Sudan. The natives of these areas know how to deal with them, they even have certain ways and procedures to control them and minimize their hurt to humans, but for the people who are new to such conditions it is very difficult to stay safe at the beginning, and even after some time it is challenging to keep the children safe.
After the Fall of our beloved Capital to the RSF, millions of Sudanese are forced to migrate to other states. And after the invasion of Al-Jazeera State, the numbers are increasing daily. Most of the people who became internally displaced people are finding it very difficult to adjust to new conditions. The main challenge nowadays is the weather. The changes in weather constitute a great burden, and because Sudan has large areas, the weather changes completely from one place to the other. People coming from Khartoum State find it challenging to adjust to the weather of other far States. Those people are faced not only with weather and temperature changes, but also with serious financial challenges to have the full capacity of buying winter clothes and medical supplies for the entire members of one family. Some of the internally displaced people are living inside schools which was provided to them by the government, but now they need more care and considerations from the government and the medical international organizations to guarantee them a quick response, logistically and medically.
Common cold or the cold is a viral infectious disease of the upper respiratory tract that primarily affects the respiratory mucosa of the nose, throat, sinuses, and larynx. This virus is more likely to be active in winter. Nowadays the temperatures are in continuous decrease, and we need to take care of ourselves, especially the children and the elders, to maintain good health during this season. Below are some advices to consider during winter to avoid Common Cold:-
– Wash Your Hands. This is the single best way to prevent a cold since hands are the easiest way for viruses to travel.
– Disinfect surfaces frequently. No matter how often you wash your hands, you are likely getting virus on surfaces around you when someone in the family is sick.
– Don’t touch your eyes or nose. Keep your fingers away from your eyes and nose to avoid spreading germs.
– Avoiding close contact with sick people. It’s also a good idea to stay away from people who are sick, as the viruses that cause the common cold can spread through close personal contact.
– Stay home if you are sick. This is to keep from infecting others and spreading the virus further.
– Get enough sleep. During sleep, the body releases cytokines, which are proteins that help regulate Trusted Source immune responses. Which will help you recover faster.
– Throw your tissues away immediately. When you sneeze or cough into a tissue, it is likely that the respiratory droplets that enter the tissue contain some viruses, so its better to keep them away to avoid spreading the virus and getting others sick.
– Taking zinc supplements. Zinc is an important micronutrient that occurs naturally in meat, fish, nuts, and other foods.
From here I would like to take a pause and salute the Sudanese Doctors who are working hard in these very difficult times of war, just to secure medicines and medical responses to the Sudanese population.
May Allah grant wisdom and positive thinking to our leaders and our dear Sudanese Soldiers to continue fighting hard and end this war very soon.