1. Medical knowledge of how to resist respiratory tract disease should be made widely known during the winter and spring so as to help people learn its characteristics and take preventive measures accordingly. Patients should be found early, reported immediately and then isolated; they should avoid seeking medical treatment or taking medicines randomly.

2. Rooms should be well ventilated and be a thoroughly cleaned, sanitary environment. Clothing and quilts should be washed frequently and dried outdoors.

3. Exercise should be regular, breathing lots of fresh air to stay in good health.

4. Local disease-control organizations should inspect and disinfect houses where patients have lived.

5. People should wash hands after picking nostrils, sneezing or coughing (when using hands to cover). Dry hands with towels or tissues.

6. People should have regular exercise, enough rest to reduce any stress, balanced diet and avoid smoking. In addition, people should also change their cloths according to the weather, to help build up resistance to diseases.

7. Areas found to have patients should step-up sanitation procedures and produce information on the subject and inspect areas where the patients live. People should avoid going to air-blocked and densely-populated public places. Public gatherings should be reduced.

8. Air-conditioners should be kept operating regularly. Its dust-filtering gauze should be cleaned often. Air-conditioners in shops, super markets and theaters should be regularly checked, secured and disinfected. These places should be well ventilated at all times.

*Source material from Ministry of Health.

(China.org.cn April 8, 2003)