"Stay out of the hospitals?" That's what I normally do. It has been working great so far, but I would not claim it as an infallible method, necessarily.
I generally avoid doctors, along much the same line of reasoning...but make exceptions to that if absolutely necessary.
I generally avoid vacinnations and prescription drugs, again, along the same line of reasoning. (Sort of like avoiding cigarettes and alcoholism and gambling.)
The A.M.A. is really troubled by people like me. We're bad for business.
By the way, it's just a cold (what I've got). On the scale of 1 to 10 (10 being worst) I'd give it about a 5.