Learn about Germs

Germs are all around us and are changing everyday! Here are some facts and figures about the nasty nature of germs.

• Desktops have almost 21,000 germs per square inch and phones more than 25,000 per square inch (compared with a mere 49 per square inch on toilet seats).
• Highly contagious infectious particles can spray from a sneeze at speeds of up to 200 miles per hour, landing at a distance of three feet from the offender and survive there for over 24 hours.*
• Although the common cold is usually mild, with symptoms lasting one to two weeks, it is the leading cause of doctor visits and missed days from school and work.
• Kissing is okay! The common cold viruses are not spread by contact such as kissing, but appear to be spread by large particles expelled at close range by coughs and sneezes, and by contaminated fingers that pass the virus to the nose and eye.
• Hippocrates, the Father of Medicine, first described influenza in 412 BC, while the first known flu-like epidemic occurred in 1580 AD.
• According to the Center for Disease Control, 164 million school days are lost annually due to illness.
• Influenza can strike entire populations who have inadequate immune protection, especially against a newly mutated virus. The U.S. Government now reports influenza deaths in the 1990's were 35-50,000 per year instead of the original estimates of 20,000.
• Children have six to ten colds a year. Families with children in school can have as many as 12.
• In the course of a year, people in the United States suffer from one billion colds, according to some estimates.
• Women between the ages of 20 and 30 have more colds than men because of the exposure they receive from their children.
• More than 200 different viruses are known to cause symptoms of the common cold.
• One of the two methods of catching a cold virus is inhaling germs that are in the air. The other method is through contact with a person or surface contaminated by cold germs.
• Colds and flu are definitely seasonal, with more colds in the colder weather – but there is no real agreement as to why colds are seasonal. Most textbooks state that there are more colds in cold weather because we tend to crowd indoors in poorly ventilated rooms.

* According to a recent University of Arizona study.

** According to Dr. Winkler G. Weinberg, author of No Germs Allowed! How to Avoid Infectious Diseases at Home and on the Road