Imagine all the things you touch from the moment you walk in your home. The door, the refrigerator and who knows what your children are handling.
Catherine Gramling has two children and says with cold season here she worries about germs.
She says, "I have to be real careful if she touches him or things that they do touch door knobs anything in the kitchen, things like that."
Gramling disinfects surfaces around the house as much as possible, but admits with children its hard to know you've gotten everything. She says that is especially alarming now that a new study is out showing the cold virus can last longer than we thought.
In the study, University of Virginia researchers deliberately contaminated surfaces like the remote control. They found that when they did that 48 hours later people still got the cold virus from touching it.
The study found that salt and pepper shakers, faucets and light switches were all places the cold virus could survive.
Gramling says, "To think that it could stay there for two days is scary you want to clean constantly at that rate."
Gramling admits it is easy to see how the germs outside could get into her home and onto her kids.
"She touches the remote or she picks up the telephone or picks up crayons anything and then I go around and clean up and pick them up as well then pick him up so it is very frightening."
Doctors don't know how often people actually get the cold from touching a surface with germs on it, but for Catherine Gramling, with this new knowledge, she's not taking any chances.
The study also found that parents should be careful when they take their children to the doctor. Toys left for the children to play with could be contaminated.
To avoid spreading the cold, doctors say the best advice is to wash your hands frequently, use hand sanitizer and wipe down surfaces you use often.
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