If you’re concerned about avoiding the flu this season, it’s important to remember that certain environments are more likely to harbor the flu virus, increasing your chances of exposure. To help you stay healthy, this article identifies common places where the flu virus tends to spread easily.
Nurseries
Flu viruses quickly spread around nurseries. This is because little children don’t know how to stop the spread of germs. When they sneeze and cough without covering their mouths, illnesses spread very quickly.
Offices
Iwesco says that “the average office desk and work equipment can be up to 400 times dirtier than a toilet seat. Cleaning staff focus on cleaning the toilets and floors, but often neglect computers, keyboards, printers, and office stationery.” Offices are breeding grounds for flu germs.
Shopping Centers
Shopping centers are high-traffic areas that people come in and out of every day. Because of the great mix of people, sick and well, they have become hubs for germs. Shopping centers are also dangerously germy places because they have so many touch points.
Hospitals
If you want to steer clear of the flu virus during flu season, you must avoid entering hospitals. Hospitals contain a high concentration of sick people. Because of the sheer volume of people in a hospital, germs quickly spread from one person to the next.
Gyms
Gyms are hotspots for the flu because they are closed, air-controlled environments where lots of people enter and leave. Gym equipment is touched by many people, and germs can quickly spread to everyone in the gym. Avoid visiting the gym while there are flu outbreaks.
Restaurants
Restaurants can be centers for germs spreading because of unsanitary practices in the establishment. If those preparing food do not wash their hands properly or cough or sneeze in the direction of the food, this can spread germs. Germs can also spread when using utensils that have not been properly washed.
Cinemas
Cinemas are known to be places where germs spread. This is due to the closed environment of the cinema and the lack of fresh air. Contact points such as the cinema doors, the armrests, and cup holders are also places where nasty flu germs linger.
Concerts
Concerts, especially indoors, are places where flu germs are likely to spread. The sheer volume of people at the concert makes it more likely for you to come into contact with someone who has the flu. The closed environment of indoor concerts also contributes to the spread of germs.
Sporting Events
Stadiums where sporting events are held are the ideal places for germs to spread. The number of people at the event puts you at a high risk of coming into contact with someone who has the flu. Contact points such as seats and cup holders are also known to harbor germs.
Public Restrooms
Public restrooms are places that many people go in and out of every day. In a restroom, there are many touch points that are renowned for containing flu germs. These include restroom locks and door handles, toilet seats, toilet flush buttons and chains, and faucets.
Bookshops
Bookstores are places that lots of people pass through each day. They usually lack good ventilation, which makes them ideal places for germs to linger. Bookstores contain lots of shared contact spaces, such as doors and all the books. Everyone touches these, and this facilitates germs spreading.
Theme Parks
Theme parks may seem like fun places to pass the time, but they could also be your ticket to contracting the flu virus if you visit during flu season. They contain lots of people, all huddled together in lines, so this close contact makes it easy for flu germs to spread.
Lifts
All it takes is for one person with the flu to ride the same lift as you, and you could end up contracting it. Lifts are small, enclosed places with stagnant air, and the buttons are touched by everyone, so these combined factors make it easy for germs to spread inside them.
Escalator
The handrail on an escalator is a germy thing to touch. Practically everyone who rides the elevator touches the handrails. If someone who has the flu virus touches an escalator or sneezes or coughs on the handrail, these germs can quickly spread to others.
Buses
During a study mentioned by Forbes, many commuting surfaces were swabbed; “the bus had the most microbial CFUs at 40 million. That’s four times as much bacteria as was found on a kitchen sink.” Yes, buses are hot spots for germs, including the flu virus.
Trains
If you catch the flu, it is likely you got it off a train. Frenka states that “dangerous train bacteria can live between one minute to up to two hours on a handrail.” Trains are often labeled as containers for viruses like the flu because of their many contact points.
Airplanes
“Airplane seatback trays are the dirtiest place on the airplane,” says Forbes. These trays are even dirtier than the toilets on the airplane. If you’re worried about contracting the flu virus, make sure you wash your hands thoroughly after touching the seatback tray on an airplane.
Schools
If you want to avoid contracting the flu, you should avoid going into a school during flu season. Lysol agrees, stating that “schools are hot zones for germs, and common illnesses like the cold and flu can spread quickly among kids when they are in close contact with each other.”
Playgrounds
It is so easy to catch the flu from a kids’ playground. Children often sneeze and cough without covering their mouths and noses. Because of this, germs are likely to spread in these areas. The touch points on swing sets and slides help the germs spread faster.