Kissing under the mistletoe is out, unless it is an air kiss
If you are giving the sort of kiss a grandmother gives to a child, then the transmission of anything infectious is quite low.
If you are mouth to mouth - or wet kissing - there is an exchange of saliva. There are infections which are transmitted by saliva, such as herpes, Epstein-Barr virus - also known as the kissing disease - and even syphilis.
The Common Cold Centre in Cardiff, the United Kingdom, says the common cold virus is not spread by kissing, but you may not want to if your partner has a runny nose.
Personal space is a good thing
Because Singapore is in the tropics, there is no seasonal peak when it comes to influenza. The reason there is such a peak in the northern hemisphere is that in winter, people tend to huddle together in large crowds, which makes a difference.
If you are really sick, though, it is best to forego the party. Even if it takes hours in the same room for you to infect someone, why ruin their Christmas?
No nibbling for hours at the buffet table
After hours at a party, the food left at the buffet may stop your grumbling tum, but it could give you food poisoning, especially if it is seafood and food with mayonnaise or raw eggs.
If food has been standing on a warmer and the warmer never gets really hot, then it is the perfect culture medium for bacteria.
So if food has been sitting at room temperature for several hours, there is a chance of infection, and doubly so if someone did not take care to wash their hands before preparing the food. A bout of gastroenteritis would be a nasty way to remember the party.
Wash your hands, even if you are desperate to get back on the dance floor
Eat well, sleep well and wash your hands is the message, especially the bit about washing your hands.
The cold virus can be passed from people to people through hand contact, or touching contaminated surfaces such as door handles, then touching your face.
The Common Cold Centre also advises hand washing and suggests that this can reduce the spread of common colds within the family.
Eat plenty of fruit and vegetables in between pieces of logcake
It is hard to interpret studies that say vitamin C is beneficial because people who take vitamin C are people who are more health conscious, says Dr Lim.
She also says that even though things such as zinc and echinacea are praised for their cold-symptom reducing properties, she has 'not seen anything that leads me to earth-shattering conclusions'.
Her advice? Take fruit and vegetables instead of popping a tablet.
Don't let parties make mincemeat out of you
No sharing of mince pies just to cut the calories
Sharing food like this, or using your chopsticks to pick up shared food, is out too.
Use serving spoons with shared food when in a group and have a mini mincemeat pie all to yourself. Saliva can be left behind on the shared food so that mincemeat would not be the only thing you are digesting.
Use that handkerchief that gran gave you last Christmas
Cover your nose and mouth with a hankie or tissue when you are coughing or sneezing. It only takes seconds for the spray from your sneeze to land on someone else and infect them.
And keep washing those hands after you have touched a soiled tissue.
Be merry but be careful
The infectious diseases expert has a final word of warning for you.
While you are enjoying yourself going to various parties, take care with how much you are drinking.
People lose their inhibitions with one too many drinks, which could lead to multiple sexual contacts and the chance of coming down with a sexually transmitted disease.
This story first ran in The Straits Times on 14 December, 2005.
