The One Thing To Avoid Touching If You Don't Want To Get Sick

Bugs that can make you sick are lurking everywhere but there's one place you haven't thought of that harbours more germs than a public toilet.

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Many of us are right to be squeamish when going to public toilets. Germs and bacteria lurk on every surface and we usually take special care not to touch anything unnecessarily. Why then don't we extend these precautions to other bug-infested items? For example, the elevator button!

The number of bacteria present on an elevator button is almost 40 times higher than a public toilet seat. New research carried out in hotels, restaurants, banks and airports showed that elevator buttons there average 313 colony-forming units compared to just 8 per toilet seat. The most common bacteria found were E.Coli and MRSA.

While not physically touching an elevator button is almost impossible (if you want to get to your destination that is!) the solution is simple. Just remember to use hand sanitiser afterward!

In the meantime, here are some other things you should avoid touching if you care about your health:

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