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Can You Get Swine Flu From A Dollar Bill? “A study published by Swiss researchers shows that an infectious virus can survive for three days on bank notes, and 17 days ‘in the presence of respiratory mucus.'” [Consumer Reports Money]
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How To Wash Your Hands You’re probably not scrubbing and rinsing long enough; try singing the guitar riff to “Layla” while you wash. [Consumer Reports Safety]
After one of their friends claimed to have gotten ringworm from a Chuck E. Cheese restaurant, mommy blog “momlogic” decided to swab several Chuck E. Cheese locations and have the samples tested for bacteria. The results are pretty gross, and make us thankful to have an immune system.
This is the view when you order a toasted whatever from the Quiznos in Warren, New Jersey: a cleaning rag and a bug zapping racket. Mmmm…toasty!
Disturbing news from Horizon Air: rising costs have apparently forced the airline to replace lavatory sinks with a “lone bottle of hand sanitizer glued to the counter.”
A restaurant in Dubai gave a 25% discount to a party of birthday diners after they found four bugs in their food. Says a restaurant official, “The guys thought being friendly and having a joke about the environment would relax the diners because it was a birthday, but unfortunately it didn’t.” We sort of think after the second or third bug, you should probably just comp the meal—and then shut down the restaurant for fumigation.
Now that MSRA, or methicillin-resistant staph, has taken the lead as America’s Worst Infection, killing more people annually than AIDS, it’s a good time to learn a little more about how to avoid it, how to identify it, and what to do if you suspect you have it. The New York Times offers a brief, helpful article about the topic, answering questions like “What can I do to lower my risk of catching it?” and “Where does it lurk?”
Dairy Queen is the king of food safety violations, according to nationwide health inspection reports. Hygiene issues comprise almost 25% of DQ’s violations; busy employees apparently can’t be bothered to wash their hands or store food at the proper temperature.
Methicillin-resistant staph aureus (MRSA) caused more than 94,000 life-threatening infections and nearly 19,000 deaths in the United States in 2005, most of them associated with health care settings, says the CDC.
Let us know how that works out. —MEGHANN MARCO
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