Colds and flu are here

[BunsenBurner]

<p>[Doorknobs</a> and TV remotes are germ hotbeds - Yahoo! News](<a href=“http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081028/ap_on_he_me/med_catching_colds]Doorknobs”>http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081028/ap_on_he_me/med_catching_colds)</p>

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Someone in your house have the sniffles? Watch out for the refrigerator door handle. The TV remote, too. A new study finds that cold sufferers often leave their germs there, where they can live for two days or longer. Scientists at the University of Virginia, long known for its virology research, tested surfaces in the homes of people with colds and reported the results Tuesday at the nation’s premier conference on infectious diseases.</p>

<p>Doctors don’t know how often people catch colds from touching germy surfaces as opposed to, say, shaking a sick person’s hand, said Dr. Birgit Winther, an ear, nose and throat specialist who helped conduct the study.</p>

<p>Two years ago, she and other doctors showed that germs survived in hotel rooms a day after guests left, waiting to be picked up by the next person checking in.</p>

<p>For the new study, researchers started with 30 adults showing early symptoms of colds. Sixteen tested positive for rhinovirus, which causes about half of all colds. They were asked to name 10 places in their homes they had touched in the preceding 18 hours, and researchers used DNA tests to hunt for rhinovirus.</p>

<p>“We found that commonly touched areas like refrigerator doors and handles were positive about 40 percent of the time” for cold germs, Winther said.</p>

<p>All three of the salt and pepper shakers they tested were contaminated. Other spots found to harbor the germ: 6 out of 18 doorknobs; 8 of 14 refrigerator handles; 3 of 13 light switches; 6 of 10 remote controls; 8 of 10 bathroom faucets; 4 of 7 phones, and 3 of 4 dishwasher handles.</p>

<p>Next, the researchers deliberately contaminated surfaces with participants’ mucus and then tested to see whether rhinovirus stuck to their fingers when they turned on lights, answered the phone or did other common tasks. More than half of the participants got the virus on their fingertips 48 hours after the mucus was smeared.

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<p>Dear CCers, I’m posting a little a reminder: please wash hands, cover sneezes and stay home if you are ill. Please stay healthy this winter!</p>

[Lafalum84]

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<p>Ewwww!</p>

[fauve]

<p>So Howard Hughes was right all along!</p>

<p>Pass the Purell.</p>