Shingles is caused by a type of herpes virus, called varicella zoster, the same virus that causes chickenpox. After someone has chickenpox, the virus can lie dormant in the body's nervous system for years before reactivating as shingles. According to a November 2002 article in "American Family Physician,"

When the temperature drops, it is normal for your feet, hands and nose to feel cold before other parts of your body. This is because it takes longer for blood to circulate to these areas, especially in extreme conditions when it is concentrated on your vital organs to keep them warm.

Every winter, most children succumb to a viral infection. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, most children get eight to 10 colds in the first two years of life. Long after the fever is gone, many children continue to suffer from a cough.

The flu, caused by the influenza virus, is an unfortunately common illness characterized by symptoms such as sore throat, body aches, muscle pain, fever, chills, fatigue and cough. Dizziness that accompanies the flu is most often related to dehydration.

Exposure to staph infections may be hard for you to avoid, and the prevalence of hard to treat methicillin-resistant staph aureus, or MRSA, makes reducing your risk increasingly important. However, even MRSA is treatable during pregnancy. Staph bacteria is prevalent in places such as locker rooms, gyms and hospitals.

There is no "antidote" for a cold or flu virus -- there are only compounds that can help your body's natural defense system fight if off, and those that can soothe symptoms.

When their sinus cavities become clogged with mucus due to a cold, the flu or allergy season, many people turn to oral decongestant tablets like pseudoephedrine, or Sudafed, for relief. Sudafed is not appropriate for some people, including infants and children, pregnant women, or individuals with high blood pressure.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, also called MRSA or antibiotic staff infection, may cause a variety of symptoms when pneumonia--a secondary infection--develops.

The flu virus passes by droplets through the air from an infected person to another person or object. The flu virus can be passed through shaking hands, coughing, sneezing or touching a contaminated object.

“Flu” is a generic term for a respiratory infection produced by several distinct influenza viruses, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). More than 200,000 people are hospitalized and about 36,000 people die from the flu in the United States each year.

What you eat after you’ve had the stomach flu may help improve lingering symptoms faster. MayoClinic.com states that allowing your stomach to settle and easing back into a regular diet are two lifestyle choices that can help your digestive system repair itself.

Shingles are most commonly diagnosed in people over age 50, according to the Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center College of Medicine. This painful virus can cause chills, headache, fatigue and tingling sensations on the skin.