Article: Alcohol may decrease sneezing and coughing reflexes needed to remove mucus from the lungs, interferes with antibiotics or other medicines like those taken during a bout of pneumonia. There are several vaccines that are available to prevent the occurrence of pneumonia. Pneumococcal and influenza (flu) vaccines are examples of those that can be given. Some vaccines are routinely administered to children, however, in certain circumstances, vaccines may also be recommended to adults. There are two types of influenza or flu vaccine of vaccines. One of them is the "flu shot", which contains a killed influenza virus that is administered to a muscle using a syringe. It is given to those older than 6 months, including healthy people and people with chronic medical conditions. The other one is the nasal-spray flu vaccine, which contains live, weakened viruses. Because the viruses are weakened, they will not be strong enough to cause disease, but our body will be able to produce defenses against them. It is approved for use in healthy non pregnant people who are 2-49 years old. Covering your mouth when you cough or someone else does will help you to avoid sharing germs, making it less likely you will get pneumonia again. It is also important to wash your hands anytime you are around someone who is coughing or sneezing. Ways to cover your mouth and nose include using tissue paper, your upper sleeve, or wearing a face mask. We can get and spread pathogens (disease-causing microorganisms) from our hands because we use them to cover our mouth when coughing, turn door knobs, handle food, rub our eyes and hold our children. Without washing, pathogens multiply on our hands and spread to everything we touch. The proper handwashing technique as prescribed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), is as follows: Wet your hands with clean, running water. Apply soap and lather the backs of your hands, between your fingers, and under your nails by rubbing your hands together. For at least 20 seconds, scrub your hands. Rinse your hands well under clean, running water. Dry your hands. As mentioned in the previous step, our hands are effective in spreading pathogens so cleaning objects that our hands usually touch will also prevent the spread of disease. Things that you should clean include: doorknobs, light switches and remote control.
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Stop drinking alcohol while you are recovering. Keep up to date on vaccinations. Cover your mouth when you cough or when someone coughs. Wash your hands regularly. Clean things that you often touch regularly and thoroughly.