The average adult can touch as many as 30 objects a minute, including germ-harboring surfaces.   That is exactly how I found this information in the Prevention magazine at the doctor's office waiting room the other day.    Here's where the germs are most likely to lurk in the public places you visit:

Restaurant menus   Have you ever seen anyone wash off a menu?   If it's a popular restaurant hundreds of people could be handing the menus.  The Journal of Medical Virology reported that cold and flu viruses can survive 18 hours on hard surfaces.  Yikes.  Never let a menu touch your plate or silverware.

Condiment dispensers    Many people don't wash their hands before eating.    The person who poured the ketchup before you probably did not either.  Squirt hand sanitizer on the outside of the bottle before you grab it.

Restroom door handles     Prevention suggests you palm a spare paper towel after you wash up and use it to grasp the handle.    

Soap dispensers   about 25 present are contaminated with you know what.   Be sure to scrub your hands thoroughly with hot water for 20 seconds. 

Grocery carts    A study at the University of Arizona confirmed that two-thirds of grocery store shopping carts are contaminated.   Swab the handle with disinfectant wipe before you grab it.   Also, skip the free food samples.  

Doctor's office    Not the place to be if you are trying to avoid germs.    Take you own books and magazines (I didn't).   Pack your own tissues and sanitizers.    In the waiting room, leave at least 2 chairs between you and other patients.  

Not sure about the disinfectant wipes at the grocery store.   But what's worse, strange looks or all those germs.

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