The 7 Germiest Public Places

Avoid touching these surfaces in public places to stay healthy.

Excerpt from The List Maker’s Get-Healthy Guide, By the Editors of Prevention

An average adult can touch as many as 30 objects within a minute, including germ-harboring, high-traffic surfaces such as light switches, doorknobs, phone receivers, and remote controls. At home, you do all that you can to keep the germs at bay. But what happens when you step out the door to go to dinner, do some grocery shopping, or visit the doctor’s office? Know where germs are most likely to lurk, as you’ll find out here.

1. Restaurant menus

Have you ever seen anyone wash off a menu? Probably not. A recent study in the Journal of Medical Virology reported that cold and flu viruses can survive for 18 hours on hard surfaces. If it’s a popular restaurant, hundreds of people could be handling the menus–and passing their germs on to you. Never let a menu touch your plate or silverware, and wash your hands after you place your order. Or use antibacterial wipes.

The worst places for your health.

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Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Dale O.

8:24AM PDT on Jul 31, 2012

Oooooooooooooooooooooo! We are all going to die! Sanitize everything, sit down and then breathe...but you could be breathing in all sorts of bacteria, viruses, toxins....time to enclose ourselves in one giant glass bubble!

This was the stuff of Howard Hughes' worse nightmare, especially his favourite that outer space was filled with bacteria, headed to Earth via the latest space rocks breaking up in the atmosphere.bringing in bacteria that could survive in the harshest elements.

While personal hygiene is essential we can truly go overboard. Remember also there are many bacteria that live on us that are friendly and if we take sanitizing to the extreme a lot of our immunity is sacrificed. Now breathe!

July 31
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F L.

1:43PM PDT on Jul 16, 2012

I always thought Restaurant menus were disgusting!

July 16
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Teresa F.

10:14AM PDT on Jul 14, 2012

it´s the truth, thanks for the article

July 14
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nicola w.

3:36AM PDT on Jul 13, 2012

Our plastic money is pretty filthy too ..

July 13
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3:35AM PDT on Jul 13, 2012

I would add ATM cash dispensers - I also saw a woman sit a child with a wet nappy on the supermarket checkout belt on the counter where you stack your food, also another Indian woman washing her babies pooey bum in a bubbler at the beach .....and NO ONE says anything.

Isabella L.

3:03AM PDT on Jul 13, 2012

thanks for sharing

Ash K.

9:36PM PDT on Jul 11, 2012

Wow- lemon wedges? Would've never thought that!

And isn't it kinda funny, soap dispensers and doctor's offices are both made to make us better... But they're just full of germs!

July 11
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Karen F.

4:52PM PDT on Jul 10, 2012

Peanuts or other bar food in a bowl! Yucko! I always ask for mine to be given to me in the bag in which it came, thanks all the same. The germs on the average snack bar bowl are teeming. Sometimes I find it a wonder we aren't all a lot sicker when you think of all the gross germs about - the immune system sure is a wonderful thing.