Stop the Spread of Cold and Flu

The only thing worse than get­ting hit with a cold or the flu is shar­ing it with your whole fam­i­ly. Many virus­es can live for up to 24 hours, while oth­ers can linger for days. Here are tips on how to safe­guard against spread­ing germs includ­ing infor­ma­tion on where they like to hide and how to deep clean after ill­ness strikes. 

Start with the Prop­er Tools

Dis­in­fec­tants
Dis­in­fect­ing is key to destroy­ing germs because it wipes out bac­te­ria, virus­es and fun­gi that live on sur­faces. To make your own dis­in­fec­tant solu­tion, you can com­bine one quar­ter-cup of chlo­rine bleach with one gal­lon of hot water

Wear Pro­tec­tive Gloves
Wear­ing gloves can pro­tect your skin from clean­ing prod­ucts. Once you have fin­ished dis­in­fect­ing your home and office, use warm soap and water to thor­ough­ly wash your reusable gloves.

Roll up Your Sleeves: Places to Clean

In Your Home
Bed­rooms
Clean­ing your bed­room once you are feel­ing bet­ter can go a long way. It takes time to ful­ly recov­er from being sick and a clean bed­room can give you a bet­ter chance of recov­er­ing quickly. 

• Sheets and pil­low cases
• Alarm clocks
• Lamp pulls
• Door­knobs
• Robe
• Dress­er drawers

Bath­room
Your bath­room is always a breed­ing ground for germs, espe­cial­ly dur­ing the win­ter­time when colds and flus can have you vis­it­ing the restroom more fre­quent­ly. Once you are feel­ing bet­ter, be sure to dis­in­fect sur­faces in your bathroom. 

• Faucet han­dles on sink and bath tub
• Toi­let handle
• Bath tow­els, hand tow­els, washcloths
• Med­i­cine cabinet
• Bath mats
• Door­knobs

Kitchen
Although you are most like­ly not spend­ing a lot of time in the kitchen when you are sick, you will be in the kitchen from time to time. Wipe down and dis­in­fect the coun­ters and pay atten­tion to a few of the small­er details, such as: 

• Refrig­er­a­tor handles
• Stove knobs
• Cof­fee pot and/​or tea kettle
• Draw­er pulls
• Microwave

Hid­ing in Plain Sight
Often­times, germs are right under your nose. Start by dis­in­fect­ing things in your home that every­one touch­es through­out the day. 

• Door­knobs
• Light switch­es
• Ceil­ing fan pulls
• Cell phones
• Remote con­trols

Shared Spaces
Although a lot of time is spent in bed when you are down with a cold or flu, many peo­ple also rest in com­mon areas of the house. In addi­tion to clean­ing sur­faces in your fam­i­ly room, wash house­hold items and vac­u­um your floors, couch­es and chairs.

Toss in the Wash

• Blan­kets
• Throw pil­lows
• Stuffed toys

Run Through the Dishwasher

• Hard toys
• Paci­fiers
• Humid­i­fi­er parts

Don’t Risk It
Germs love to hide in moist places. Replac­ing items such as tooth­brush­es and sponges can safe­guard against spread­ing sickness. 

At the Office
While it is best for you and your co-work­ers to stay home when you are under the weath­er, some­times you find your­self at your desk when you are sick. When you are feel­ing bet­ter, clean your work space to keep your­self on the mend. 

• Chair arms
• Mouse and keyboard
• Tele­phone
• File cab­i­net pulls
• Water bot­tle
• Door­knobs

Tak­ing the time to min­i­mize the spread of germs can go a long way in keep­ing you and your fam­i­ly healthy dur­ing cold and flu sea­son. For more tips on stay­ing healthy, or to sched­ule an appoint­ment with a fam­i­ly med­i­cine physi­cian, please vis­it https://​stag​ing​.dupagemed​ical​group​.pki​apps​.com/​s​e​r​v​i​c​e​s​/​f​a​m​i​l​y​-​m​e​d​i​cine/.