Tags
antibodies, cold, flu, germs, hotel, ill, illness, immune system, infect, infection, Journal of Infectious Diseases, kiss, kissing, motel, remote control, sanitizing wipes, sick, toothbrush, TV remote, University of Virginia School of Medicine, viral infection, virus
Let’s start with kissing. The good news is, most viral infections seep in through your nose and eyes, not your mouth. In fact, the Journal of Infectious Diseases says only 8% of people typically get sick after smooching someone who has a cold. It’s actually safer to kiss someone with a cold than to shake their hand – and then rub your nose.
So, will staying in a hotel make you sick? You bet. If the person staying in the room the night before you was sick – a third of hotel room surfaces will be coated in illness-causing germs. That’s according to the University of Virginia School of Medicine. So, bring some sanitizing wipes and get to work on the light switch, TV remote, doorknobs and phone. Those areas are the least likely to be cleaned by housekeeping.
Do you need to toss your toothbrush after you’ve had a cold or flu? Nope. You can’t re-infect yourself. When you get sick, your immune system cranks out antibodies specific to the strain of virus you have. And those antibodies stick around to make sure you don’t get the same thing twice.