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Germ Warfare

It's cold and flu season again, and the most innocent of objects could be your greatest healt threat

(By Heather Hatfield) WebMD Health Contributing Writer.

Spreading the flu isn't the same as spreading New Year's cheer. The dastardly duo---are back, and they're hiding everywhere, from the shopping mall to your doctor's tie to the telephone. For some of us, these seasonal sicknesses are already nesting in our lungs and sinuses and playing havoc with immune systems. So what can you and your family do to stay healthy? With some help from Charles Gerba, PhD, professor of microbiology at the University of Arizona, WebMD investigates where cold and flu germs live and hide so that you can take proper precautions or, better yet, avoid them like the plague.

Gusundheit! Did you know the technical term for a sneeze is sternutation? When it occurs, small particles are expelled from the nose at more than 100MPH faster than a Cessna plane on take off, says Gerba. When you have the flu, the virus makes itself at home in the lining of the nose, causing irritation, swelling, and, yes sternutation. So cover up when you achoo. Those fast moving particles can cover an almost three-foot radius, and onced airborne, can easily be inhaled by the guy standing next to you. Guess what? Now he has the flu too.

Cart Attack: Grocery carts haul more than groceries. "The cart handles are bad in terms of mucus and saliva, because half of American children put their mouths on those things," Gerba says. That means you can pick up a lot more than a great bargain on organically grown bananas. When leftover drool makes its way to your hands, and your hands make their way to your mouth, the flu has found itself a new home. The flue aside, whatever you do, don't put your fresh veggies in the grocery cart seat. "Diaper-aged kids sit in them, and they're prone to accidents. Next thing you know, their accidents are on your food." Ewww. That's enough to make anyone sick.

Hands Off: More than 40 million people visit the massive Mall of America in Minnesota every year. Multiply that by two hands per person. and you have 80 million opportunities to spread viruses that cause colds and flu among shoppers. You local mall isn't so different, "Escalator handrails are pretty bad," Gerba tells WebMD. "We find mucus, saliva, blood---they tend to be pretty grody." That's an understatement. Don't touch the handrail if you can manage without it.

Going Down? Two stories or 110 stories, if you want to leave a building, you'll have to press the first floor elevator button. It's exceptionally dirty, and a prime place to catch a cold. "If you can, get someone else to push it so you don't have to touch it," says Gerba frankly, if not exactly charitably. And if you're alone? Use your elbow instead of a finger to press the button. Or take the stairs.

Clean Living: "It's a bacteria cafeteria." says Gerba of that nasty specimen near your sink---the sponge. Next up, in order of being germiest around the house: dishcloths, the kitchen sink, the bath-room sink, cutting boards, the kitchen floor, the bathroom floor, the bath-room counter, and finally, in dead last, the toilet seat. These are the places where fecal bacteria hide, and when we find fecal bacteria, we usually find the viruses that cause colds and flu.

Potty Training: "People tend to go for the middle stalls in a public bathroom," Gerba tells WebMD. "Those stalls tend to be the germiest because they get the most use." The more people who use a stall, the more they put their not-so-clean-hands contaminated with flu and cold viruses on doors, knobs, locks, flushers, and toilet paper rolls---each an opportunity for you to pick up the germs they've left behind. "If you ever want to make sure you'r going to have toilet paper in a public restroom, and maybe find a semi-clean spot," Gerba suggests, "go for the first stall, because fewer people use it."

Hot Lunch: Kids' sharing should be applauded, except when it comes to lunch: 84% of kids say they swap drinks, snacks, and sandwiches, which means your daughter's best friend's flu virus might migrate to her SpongeBob lunch box. Worse yet, since more than nine of 10 kids keep their lunches anywhere but the fridge before their midday meal, they give the flu a perfect place to grow and thrive---a warm, dark environment. A tip: Pop your child's juice box or water bottle into the freezer the night before. It'll act as a coolant the next morning, and hold off not only food-borne illnesses but also prevent viruses from multiplying in a lunch box before you have a chance to wash it.

Dirty Business: "The average desk area in an office has 400 times more bacteria on it than the average toilet seat." says Gerba. which means your work place is a fine place for cold and flu germs to congregate. People sneeze, talk, eat, and breathe all over their desks (and their neighbors' desks) all day long, and cleaning at work is usually the last thing on someone's mind. When Bob from the next cube over lets out a whopping sneeze, the flu has just flown the coop, making a nice nest on your computer keyboard. "The office phone is the germiest, then the desktop, and then the computer keyboard," Gerba adds. The good news: After two days of being sanitized with disinfectant wipes, most desks have about a 99.9% reduction in bacteria and virus levels, including those that cause the cold and flu.

Shake Down: With between 20% and 50% of Americans coming down with the flu every year, shaking hands is one of the main culprits. It's simple: You cover your mouth, sneeze, forget to wash your flu-virus-laden hands, and then politely press palms with your real estate agent. "Flu spreads one of two ways, primarily by air or by contact," Gerba says. "Shaking hands is at the top of the list.

Say "Ughhh!" An ugly tie took on a whole new meaning. Researchers at the New York Hospital Medical Center of Queens found that almost half of the neckties worn by doctors were swarming with disease causing germs. In fact, doctors' ties were found to be eight times as likely to harbor germs as those of security personnel, who apparently have an undeserved reputation for being slovenly. Why the germ factory on neckties? It probably stems from the inordinate amount of sneezing a doctor's professional attire must face on a daily basis. And since we know that sneezes are laden with flu and cold viruses, maybe we're all better off seeing doctors who adhere to "casual Fridays."

Lip Service: Kissing can help prevent cavities; it stimulates the flow of saliva, which naturally cleanses away cavity-causing food particles. But it can also make you sick. When you lock lips, you exchange saliva and if you have the flu, your saliva is teeming with the influenza virus---something for which mistletoe is no match.

Close Encounters: Almost 2 billion people ride New York City's 4,000 subway cars every year. So short of buying a hermetically sealed hazmat suit, fuggedaboudit: If you're a straphanger, you're on track for a close encounter with germs that risk goes beyound the Big Apple: Whether it's a trolley in San Francisco or a steamboat on the Mississippi, flu and cold viruses find a way to stow away---no matter where the road trip.

Travel Bug: Forget stale air and reusable blankets: It's the person in 27B you should be worried about. While filtration systems on airplanes are supposed to prevent a cold or flu virus from circulating in the air, there's nothing to stop it from passenger-hopping. And with travelers topping more than 4.6 million during last year's holiday season, that's a lot of to-and-fro for the flu. "If someone is sick on a plane, the people sitting next to him, behind him, and in front of him are at risk for getting sick." Says Zachary Rubin, MD, an assistant professor of epi-demiology at Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center. "The rule of thumb is everyone within three feet is at risk.

Touch & Go Germs can live on surfaces like doorknobs for more than two hours. And with working adults touching as many as 30 objects an hour, that means washing your hand frequently---after using the bathroom, eating, working or playing outdoors, playing with pets, or coughing, sneezing, or blowing your nose---to keep them clean. It takes warm water, soap, and 15 to 20 seconds of scrubbing to rid them of cold and flu germs. P.S.: While 95% of people say they wash their hands after using a public restroom, only 67% acturlly do---yikes! Of that group, just 33% use soap, and only 16% wash their hands long enough to make it count.

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