We’re rapidly approaching cold and flu season, and for families, this can mean passing it back and forth from child to parent to child.
Find the hot spots for germs in your house so you can wipe them out…
According to a new study by the University of Virginia, household surfaces can spread common cold and flu viruses from person to person, with some germs lingering for days. This can mean a world of misery for families, so start today to keep those places sanitized.
What are the most common places for harboring germs?
Top 10 Places in Your House that Harbor Germs:
- Refrigerator doors and handles
- Bathroom faucets
- Doorknobs
- Remote controls
- Light switches
- Telephones
- Dishwasher handles
- Salt and pepper shakers
- Toys
- Your hands!
Now that you have the list, you’ll want to make an extra effort to clean and sanitize those areas regularly.
If one of you gets sick, the best thing you can do is to wash your hands frequently. It’s not necessary to use a hand sanitizer (and you should avoid anything with Triclosan), but washing them after touching one of areas above will greatly reduce the spread of cold and flu viruses in your house.
Stay clean and stay healthy!
Image: Lathyrus at Flickr under Creative Commons License
Do not forget the phone and computer mouse.
I’m writing those down and sticking them on my fridge to help me remember to target them everyday. It won’t even take 5 minutes. Thanks!
Thank you for this short but important list. As a health care provider I can appreciate the importance of prevention. With the host of opportunistic infection vectors prevalent today, we all need to take prevention of the flu more serious. The healthcare system is burdened enough with cases that are easily preventable if we would just take the time. Thanks again for the reminders, especially since I have a little one : ) in the house.
I also spray my shower heads with bleach water.
Great info-Thanks!
What about in the garage–you steering wheel! It houses thousands of bad guys from every place you have been for months!