The average human hand harbors 150 species of bacteria, some harmless and even beneficial, others capable of causing serious illness. Any number of those bacteria can be left behind every time you touch something – and considering that in the United States, Americans actually touch about 300 different surfaces every 30 minutes, there are a lot of germs being spread around.
In fact, regular contact with household items is thought to be the trigger for over 65 percent of colds, 50 percent of all cases of diarrhea and 50 percent to 80 percent of food-borne illnesses.
Among the worst offenders are those objects you touch often but rarely clean, such as your kitchen faucet, TV remote control, doorknobs, refrigerator door handles, computer keyboards, mice and trackballs, and light switches.
Cold and flu germs generally remain active longer on stainless steel, plastic and similar hard surfaces than on fabric and other soft surfaces. On any surface, though, flu viruses seem to live longer than cold viruses do.
Other factors, such as the amount of virus deposited on a surface and the temperature and humidity of the environment, also have effects on how long cold and flu germs stay active outside the body.
