Can you prevent getting a bout of flu or a winter vomiting bug as its so inelegantly called here in the UK? What about a bout of Dehli Belly or the kids bringing something home from school? Well, not entirely, but here’s a hell of a lot you can do to minimise your chances of getting either of these very common, debilitating, and for those who are very young or fighting other illnesses, sometimes fatal conditions. Firstly, realise that you can’t prevent others from walking around and happily sharing their germs with everyone else including you, it’s your actions that make the difference not theirs.
On returning home from any trip wash your hands before going about your normal business.
[amazon asin=B009V0ZMO4&template=*lrc ad (left)]Now, a few facts for you:
- The toilet seat is not the most germ infested place in the house
- The bathroom door handle is worse
- The telephone handset is worse still
- The computer keyboard is even worse
- The TV remote has more germs on it than any other item in a home cleaned to a reasonable standard BUT, the very worst thing is…..I’ll tell you in a minute.[amazon asin=B005CHXB7K&template=*lrc ad (right)]
By giving these items a quick once over with a baby wipe every day, or more often if someone in the house already has a cold, you cut your chances of not only catching a cold or flu but of getting many of the gastrointestinal viruses that do the rounds at this time of year.
When you’re out and about, there are some quite obvious germ hotspots you can easily avoid. In public washrooms if you have to open a door after washing your hands, go right down to the bottom of the bar handle, most [amazon asin=B007JT27BK&template=*lrc ad (left)]people grab the middle and if they have a cold, or worse haven’t washed their hands after using the facilities, God knows what you are getting onto your nice clean hands. For regular handles keep a tissue in your pocket and use that as a barrier between your hand and the handle if someone who is obviously unwell has touched it before you.
In lifts, push the button with your knuckle, that way if you touch your face with your fingertips you are less likely to transfer germs, and avoid holding onto the rails or grab bars if possible. If you are in an elevator with someone who has a cold, turn away from them, if the germs don’t get into you, you don’t get a cold. Simple. On public transport, if you can keep you head tilted slightly downwards you are less likely to get a million germs sneezed into your face, and you are more likely to scratch your face through the scarf, again stopping germ transfer. A scarf, even a very lightweight one in front of your nose and mouth is a very effective barrier.[amazon asin=B005P0VQW6&template=*lrc ad (right)]
As I said, if the germs don’t get into you, you don’t get sick and other than getting directly coughed and sneezed on it’s your hands that transfer most germs from the outside to the inside of your body. WASH THEM OFTEN. That single action, if employed routinely by everyone would massively diminish the amount of germs that are passed from person to person.
Cold and flu viruses can live on hard surfaces for up to 72 hours and on soft surfaces for up to 24 hours, that’s a long time, and at any point during that time you get those germs onto your hands, and then touch your nose or mouth you are effectively giving these unwanted passengers a lift right to your respiratory system. Gastrointestinal viruses can also survive quite well for even longer periods, up to 70 DAYS in the case of clostridium difficile spores.
Okay, I said I’d tell you what the dirtiest thing is…it’s money, paper money.
