Have you gotten sick this winter?
Here are five places you may wish to avoid next winter, if you want to keep your health up!
Cinemas
If you've ever seen a pandemic you know it starts from crowded and messy places. Enter the cinema. This place is jammed packed with children eating sticky things and other people blowing their nose and coughing for hours in an enclosed space.
To prevent getting any unwanted germs, always: Wash your hands before digging into the popcorn, stay away from people who are coughing or sick looking, try not to put your handbag on the ground, best not to bring one at all. Same goes for the public restroom at the cinema.
These days it has become a very popular phenomenon to go see 3D movies. Research published last year showed that you'd be better off bringing your own 3D glasses unless you want to risk getting a lot of other people's germs, unless they are single use. So try going for those movies that give you single use 3D glasses.
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Libraries
Even though libraries are, at least in our mind, a quiet and tidy place, they are in fact a closed space servicing a large number of people coming and going and who sometimes stay for long periods of time. Shelves, tables, public computers, books - many items collecting dust and, sometimes, bacteria. The library is a good place, but maybe a good idea is to pick your book and head on home to read it in peace as well as wash your hands.
Supermarket Carts
They aren't a place but they should be avoided all the same. Research carried out at Arizona University sampled a variety of carts from different states, and discovered that about 72% had more fecal matter particles on them than a public restroom. If that's not bad enough, E.coli germs were found on half the cart handles they tested for it. So next time you visit the supermarket, maybe your own trolley - or some gloves.
Hotel Rooms
Some may think this only applies to motels and cheap hotels, but even a 5 star hotel is a breeding ground for bacteria, who can find a place to hide even at any corner of the room left unwashed between guests. The room may be classy, but the germs are no gentlemen. A good idea is to clean the remote, light switches, water faucets, handles, phones and room service menu. These are may not be cleaned between guests. Please use the complementary soap to your advantage.
Sharing with other Restaurant Diners
When it comes to restaurants, the fear of disease is usually directed at the kitchen, and for good reason, since that is where your food is getting made. Dirty dishes, food that wasn't cooked well or unsanitary conditions are a good cause for concern. However, no less important to beware those things that diners share, such as menus, sauces, salt and pepper shakers, and even unused napkins.
A recent research publised in the Journal of Medical Virology it was claimed that germs and bacteria can survive for up to 18 hours on hard surfaces, that is a lot of diners coming and going. This doesn't mean you should come to eat with surgeical gloves, just be sure to wash your hands before and after eating, as not to risk it.
Stay Healthy!
