WEST PALM BEACH, FL -- How many times a day do you hear, Who has the remote? When it comes to germs who hasen't had the remote!
Allison Janse co-authored The Germ Freak's Guide to Outwitting Colds and Flu. She says studies show 6 out of 10 remotes had infectious germs on them. Janse says, "a lot of kids if they're sick and they stay home..they watch t.v. You come along you're eating a snack and holding the remote again the germs are going right into your mouth."
The telephone is another place germs love to gather. In fact, they hang out for awhile.
Allison Janse: "4 out of 7 phones had infectious cold germs on them 2 days after they were placed there and in enough concentration to get people sick."
The best defense: using a disinfectant wipe a couple of times a week or once a day if someone is sick.
The vaccuum. People think they're cleaning but Janse says they could be meals on wheels for bacteria. "When we tested them 13% of the brushes tested positive for e-coli."
Allison recommends cleaning the bristles and using a good vaccuum filter.
Computer keyboards are another popular place germs hide. Janse says, "Think about computer viruses..there's a new virus out there. When staph germs are put on a computer keyboard not only did they stay 24 hours. They grew and in enough concentration to make people sick."
A good rule of thumb: if you touch it you need to wipe it clean, same goes for your keyboard.
The toilet seat gets the worst rap when it comes to household germs but surprisingly there are bigger bathroom offenders.
Allison Janse: "If you put your toothbrushes next to to each other chances are they're gonna touch and that's a great way for germs to transmit. And the biggest thing; don't let the soap dish become a petri dish. Don't put soap in a pool and bed of slime."
A pump dispenser is always the safer choice.
But if there were one place in your house germ freaks should fear the most it's the kitchen in particular the kitchen sink.
Allison Janse: "The typical kitchen sink has 500 thousand germs... a thousand times more than the typical toilet seat."
Add in a sponge and you've got a serious problem. "This is really a petri dish in the kitchen...there can be 3 million germs in one sponge."
Disinfecting your sink everyweek will keep the bad boys at bay--as for the sponge. Wet it and microwave it for one to two minutes.
Allison says studies cofirm briefly microwaving a sponge will kill most of the germs.
For more information on Allison's book, The Germ Freak's Guide to Outwitting Cold and Flu Season go to: http://www.hcibooks.com
