Cold and flu seasons have started. Each year from late August/early September through March/April cold and flu seasons enter our lives.
Experts tell us that to keep our family and households healthy, we should focus our disinfecting efforts on spaces and items that are shared and frequently touched.
Disinfecting How To’s
Disinfecting should be a normal part of our housecleaning chores regardless if someone is sick or not. Which is better – sponges, paper towels or disinfectant wipes?
Dr. Chuck Gerba, microbiology professor at the University of Arizona in Tuscon, advises: “Sponges and dishcloths just tend to spread things around. With paper towels, you spray, wipe, and remove (the disinfectant spray). But when you use a disinfectant wipe, people wipe the surface and let it dry, which gives it more time to kill organisms. It leaves some residual impact.” Although this advice makes sense, we should be aware that Dr. Gerba’s past research has been funded by Clorox.
7 Things to Disinfect
As I mentioned before, we need to disinfect items that we touch a lot and are shared in the home. These are sites where germs are spread.
Focus on these items:
- The phone. Dr. Gerba’s research showed that 80% of phones in homes that have a child with the flu have flu virus on them. This includes cell phones and land lines. According to Dr. Gerba, “Cold and flu viruses survive on them, anywhere from a few hours to a few days.”
- The remote control. It’s one of the most touched and least cleaned items in our houses. Just think about it, if someone sneezes into their hand and touches the remote, the germs get on the remote.
- The bathroom. Half of all bathroom faucets test positive for cold and flue viruses when someone in your household has a cold or flu. Makes sense when you think that everyone’s hands go there, even the sickie. You should give the sick person his or her own hand towel to avoid spreading disease. Also don’t reuse a wipe (e.g. don’t wipe toilet then the sink with the same wipe).
- Tables. All tables from kitchen, coffee tables to play-area tables and night tables host cold and flu viruses. Why? Because, like the remote, they’re touched often and aren’t wiped down frequently.
- Computers. Check the maker’s instruction before cleaning. You may be able to wipe down keyboards or screens with a paper towel sprayed with a disinfectant or an alcohol wipe. Read here about cleaning your Apple keyboard.
- Stuffed animals. If a stuffed toy or animal is washable, toss it in the laundry. If not washable, keep it away from everyone for a few days to let viruses on its surface die.
- Sheets, blankets, towels. Wash them at high temperature with color-safe bleach detergent. Remember to wash your hands after handling them.
A final advice from Dr. Gerba is that everyone in your household should wash their hands more often when someone is sick.
Hopefully, these points will keep colds and flu from spreading in our homes this cold and flu season. With all the ebola stories circulating on our news channels, maybe we will all exercise better disinfecting practices in our homes and public.
Photo: Creative Commons, Laura Taylor©
Editorial Update: We strive to keep our content accurate and up-to-date. As part of our ongoing efforts, this article has been moved from Health to WELLNESS & SELF-CARE on 09/11/2023.
