February is the peak of cold & flu season, and it seems like everywhere I turn on social media friends and family are miserable. What does your family do to stay safe and fight illnesses?
Here’s some Cold & Flu Prevention Tips courtesy of Lysol:
- Cleaning and disinfecting aren’t one in the same: cleaning only removes germs from surfaces, whereas disinfecting actually destroys them. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) The flu virus can live on surfaces for up to 48 hours, so it’s important to disinfect regularly.
- Talk about another reason to disinfect those surfaces regularly: children can touch and retouch more than 300 surfaces in just 30 minutes. Imagine how much you could protect them – and prevent them from spreading germs – by switching from cleaning to disinfecting! (CDC)
- Frequent hand washing is a key way to preventing cold and flu. However, one study found that the majority of respondents (53%) only wash their hands for 10 seconds or less after using the toilet when the optimal time for washing is 20 seconds. (Global Hygiene Council)
- Avoid touching your mouth, nose and eyes. This is how you transfer the germs that can make you sick.
- Some other recommendations from CDC include: getting plenty of sleep, managing stress, drinking plenty of fluids, and staying active.
- When out and about: In restrooms specifically, try to avoid touching surfaces like faucets, doorknobs and flush handles. Flush with your foot, and use your paper towel to turn water off and open the door to leave; then throw the towel away. (I totally do this!)
Armed with our Lysol Cold & Flu Prevention Pack, our family took on the challenge to remain healthy through this cold & flu season. How are we faring so far? Well, I’m already OCD about everyone washing hands and sanitizing often, but we took the advice above from the Global Hygiene Council and made sure we washed our hands for at least 20 seconds. Next, I used the Lysol Disinfecting Wipes to clean surfaces even more often than I usually do. So far, so good!
Find even more Cold & Fly Prevention Tips at lysol.com.
Tammy S says
Great tips! I also do the fluch with your foot and don’t touch anything without a paper towel. In this day and age it still amazes me that some people don’t wash their hands. I love using Lysol wipes for cleaning all around the house.
Jennifer H says
me too!
latanya says
This is good information. I wash my hands with soap and water too and Lysol products are great for helping to disinfect areas.
Janet W. says
The stat that children can touch and retouch more than 300 surfaces in just 30 minutes really scares me! And it makes sense as to why my grandson has been sick left and right. We wash his hands immediately when he gets home from school to try to keep germs at a minimum in our home.
Cynthia R says
Lysol is the brand we know and trust to keep us clean and healthy.
helga says
That is a great idea. Lysol is a real germ fighter.
Tiffany Schmidt says
And with winter grossness lurking around since we’re still in the cold season, Lysol is always on hand!
joanna garcia says
I always flush with the feet and my kids follow suit and open doors w the paper towel, never thought of the faucet (use back of hand or sometimes they are just the touch free ones) but will now! all great tips!
Anita L says
This time of year is always bad for colds and flu. I always make sure to wash my hands after being out to stores, etc. , as well as using products such as Lysol around my home.
Karen Glatt says
Wash my hands all the time, and I like the Lysol Disinfecting wipes! I use them all the time. I make to sure to clean my surfaces all the time to prevent the cold and flu! I did not know the the flu germs can live on surfaces for 48 Hours. That is why I need to disinfect often!
Sandy Cain says
Ugh! I woke up with a bad cold just yesterday! We do use a lot of Lysol products here, though, and always have. We even used Lysol in the lab, back in the day, so I always knew it was an effective disinfective.
Shannon says
These are all wonderful tips. Thank you for sharing.
laura deck says
Hello! Thank you for all these wonderful tips! I’ve been here and there around your wonderful blog and I am finding an amazing amount of delicious looking recipes and tips. 🙂 Thank you for all that you are doing. Have a wonderful day!