With school starting soon, there is no way we are ready for the upcoming flu and cold season. But although I wish it were the opposite, it is inevitable that with the new school year, we will able exposed to germs as we are throughout our daily lives.
Photos by Will Star
Recently, I attended Lysol Germ School hosted by Audrey McClelland (@MomGenerations) and Vera Sweeney (@VeraSweeney) featuring “Germologist” Joseph Rubino and Pediatric Consultant Dr. Jennifer Zubler.
“Germologist” Joseph Rubino and Pediatric Consultant Dr. Jennifer Zubler – Photos by Will Star
Important Facts I learned at Lysol Germ School
- Flu viruses can live on hard surfaces for up to 48 hours.
- The common cold and any flu virus cannot be cured with antibiotics.
- 22 million school days are missed because of the common cold.
- Americans suffer from 1 Billion colds each year.
- Up to 59% of surfaces in a home can be infected during the cold and flu season.*
- More than three-fourths of Americans had to take time off work or school due to an infection in the past year.**
Having a refresher course on germs as so informative. Sometimes we need to have wake up moment on what is the source of our illnesses, right! And being able to ask Dr. Zubler health questions about the flu and vaccinations was equally informative.
Washing Hands Experiment
With all the germs out there, I am big proponent of hand washing. Come on, I live in New York City where we travel on public transportation on a daily basis. Yikes, all those surfaces touched by millions of people. I have taught my daughter to immediately wash her hands the minute she walks through the door.
But I will admit that yes I do wash hands as well but apparently I don’t actually do it very well. We did a hand washing experiment. Of course, I made the 150% effort to wash my hands and wrists (I never do that). Ha, our germologist went around the room inspecting our hands with a blue light. I failed! I had germs in the cracks of my hands and the side of my palm. All places I thought I had washed. So I will definitely be more cognizant of how I wash my hands and reinforce to my daughter to really put an effort into washing her hands more thoroughly especially at school.
One of the reasons, I wanted to attend this event is that I have been a long time, probably my entire life a user of Lysol spray. But the one thing I learned at the event was that Flu viruses can live on hard surfaces for up to 48 hours.
Now I obviously wipe down all the hard surfaces in my home but do I really do it well. Probably not. And then I thought about all the surfaces my daughter and I touch like door knobs that I NEVER clean. My mind raced thinking oh goodness, with upcoming flu and cold season, I really need to pay attention to all the hard surfaces that I haven’t cleaned as thoroughly.
The last thing either of us can afford is to be sick especially with the flu. Dr. Zubler was quite explicit about the recovery time of the flu. My daughter and I have been lucky that we just really get colds but this could be our year to get the flu.
So I am definitely making the effort to be more hyper vigilant to wipe down surfaces. Knowledge is power as they say.
Box Tops for Education Partner
Did you know that Lysol is the exclusive household cleaning brand for Box Tops for Education AND has partnered with National Education Association (NEA) and National Parent Teacher Association (PTA) to create the Healthy Habits Program? Definitely start helping your local schools by collecting those Lysol Box Tops and staying on top of germs at the same time.
Visit Lysol.com/HealthyHabits to learn more about Lysol products and Healthy Habits Program.
Disclosure: This is a sponsored post courtesy of Lysol.
*Journal of Infection: The Occurrence of Influeza a virus on household and day care center families. S.A. Boone, C.P. Gerba, published November 5, 2004
**CDC. Infectious Diseases at School. Published November 17, 2011.
