Avoiding germs?

[rlovew]

While I see what everyone is saying- keeping well hydrated as mentioned once above is a big thing to help- having enough water is essential to staying healthy as well. Also using sunscreen will help as well- the sun in Florida year round is much more intense than many places in the country and the sunshine here while warming and lovely will also drain your body more easily and allow you to more easily pick up germs.

 

[disnut8]

I think it's my teaching experience and constantly being around germs.

But - everyone is around germs all day long. I'm sitting here by myself in my house and there are germs all around me. My cat sneezed a few minutes ago - more germs. There is a fly in the house so more germs. I bought a package of cookies at Wal Mart this morning and who knows how many people touched that small package before I did? So, more germs. Oh - and the cashier touched it so more germs. I will touch my husband tonight once he gets home from golfing so more germs there.

The thing is - no one can live without having germs on their body. You would have to live inside a bubble and never touch anything. So, if you feel the need to wash your hands or whatever with whatever products you want, then do it. Personally, I just get up, live my life and don't fret about it. The last time I had a serious cold or flu? About 20 years ago.

 

[PirateD]

But - everyone is around germs all day long. I'm sitting here by myself in my house and there are germs all around me. My cat sneezed a few minutes ago - more germs. There is a fly in the house so more germs. I bought a package of cookies at Wal Mart this morning and who knows how many people touched that small package before I did? So, more germs. Oh - and the cashier touched it so more germs. I will touch my husband tonight once he gets home from golfing so more germs there.

The thing is - no one can live without having germs on their body. You would have to live inside a bubble and never touch anything. So, if you feel the need to wash your hands or whatever with whatever products you want, then do it. Personally, I just get up, live my life and don't fret about it. The last time I had a serious cold or flu? About 20 years ago.

Everybody has to do what works for them. I know my body and I am very succeptible to having colds turn into bronchitis and pneumonia. So I get the flu shot and take extra precautions and it has helped me stay healthier. Yes germs are everywhere but I get sick much more often when I'm in school and have kindergarteners sneezing and coughing all over me than when I'm not in school.

ETA: I don't really worry about it that much. It's not hard to take vitamin D or use anti-bac so it's not like it's preventing me from living my life. I still teach and go out in public and have fun!

 

[BadPinkTink]

just loled my way through this thread... so many "I'm not a germaphobe but...."

Ive been travelling to California for the last 7 years and in the first few years I did get a bit ill. One time I know I got ill from drinking water from a water drinking fountain in my hotel so now I only drink bottled water.

I take vitamin B complex, the energy vitamin for the month before I travel

My body is not used to the heat and sun, where I live temperatures rarely go above 65F so I drink lots of isotonic drinks to replace salts and sugars lost due to the extra sweating. I use factor 50 sunscreen.

People get ill on vacations for all sorts of reasons , not just the supposed germs everywhere.

I used work 60 hour weeks for many years and every year at Christmas I would get ill. The reason - my body was over worked, over stressed and my immune system was low so when I took a break over Christmas body just shut down

Going to Disney you may walk alot more and be out in higher temperatures than what your body is used to. You might eat different food and have irregular eating schedules, you might be up early and stay out late and get less sleep that you would at home. At Disney you will be standing in queues for maybe an hour or more multiple times a day, whereas at home you be sitting all day.

I am a very frequent flyer and have stayed in soo many hotels over the last 15 years. To me wiping plane seats and hotel furnishings, tv remotes, etc with anti bacterial wipes is just excessive.

Honestly just stop worrying about the germs in Disney and enjoy your time with your family, you may miss those special memories of seeing your childs reaction to something as you were busy using those anti bacterial wipes to have a germ fee seat!

 

[kj2mom]

Rest, eat and drink well and kick up that vitamin D. As others have mentioned D has been huge for me. I was super sick a few years ago and could not shake it. Doc discovered a huge D deficiency which we boosted up and have been healthy ever since (even with our recent Disney trip when we rope dropped and closed every morning/night). We wash our hands well (we outlast sooo many people at the sinks!) and try to keep hands away from eyes/nose/mouth.

 

[anniemae]

OMG I forgot about buffets! Avoid buffets, and the Winnie the Pooh queue!

 

[Pookaloki]

Wash your hands often and avoid licking the ground and you'll likely be OK. Germs are part of life.

 

[jhaig]

I need a shower just after reading this thread...

 

[ShayBells]

Wash your hands often and avoid licking the ground and you'll likely be OK. Germs are part of life.

Dang. Licking the ground at Disney is my favorite thing to do.

 

[loves to dive]

I'm a child of the 50s so we didn't grow up with any of those things, played outside, probably ate dirt and worms (I know my brothers made each other do it often) never had baby food or formula (I'm the last of 6 kids my mom pretty much knew babies didn't break easy) I got regular old milk out of the fridge, not even heated. I have a great immune system, freaky great. I raised my son the same way, you think that bug might taste good after I've told you not to put it in your mouth? Fine put it in your mouth, only once and that solves that problem. Go outside get dirty, play, run, take a bath at night brush your teeth, go to bed rinse and repeat. I wash my hands as much at Disney as I do elsewhere in public, after going to the bathroom, most of the time before I sit down to eat because I'm hot and sweaty. Other than that, I don't wipe down door knobs, remotes, or anything else unless someone spilled something on it before me. I do try to avoid licking the ground, although I can't swear one of my brothers hasn't made me do so at some time in my life.

 

[oceanmarina]

When we fly, I wipe the armrests and tray tables when we get on the plane with Wet Ones or Clorox Wipes. I think a lot of the illnesses people pick up at WDW are actually from the flight.
We use Purell after every ride where you are touching handlebars where hundreds of people have touched. Ditto for the finger scan at the gates.
We use WetOnes for our hands before we eat.
And of course washing hands with soap and water as often as possible.
We've taught the kids not to drag your hands along handrails and stuff where it's not necessary.
That's about it!

We don't do any Airborne-type stuff.

Yep to this! I have never done airbone. I agree than planes have TONS of germs, so we Clorox wipe the trays, buttons as soon as we sit on the plane. At home we rarely break out the purell sanitizing gel but at Disney we use it very frequently, many times during the course of the day.

As soon as we get to the hotel room, we change our "plane clothes" and I Clorox wipe the remote control, the phone, lamp buttons & a few other surfaces. We do eat at quite a few buffets. But I agree with other posters that using purell before eating is key. Also constantly telling your kids to "get your fingers out of your mouth!"

 

[ZoZo]

FYI, the makers of Airborne were sued (and paid a huge settlement) for making false claims about what their product can do. This was way back in 2008. Just Google "Airborne lawsuit" for details.

My steps to trying to stay healthy are: Get lots of rest, eat healthfully, wash hands often (and avoid touching my face), and if someone near me is sick (like at work) go an extra step to wipe down shared surfaces like door handles with Clorox wipes a few times a day. And I do open restroom doors with a paper towel when exiting.

When traveling, after reading numerous articles about germs in hotel rooms, I will Clorox-wipe the surfaces and remote control when arriving in my hotel room.

 

[scoobygrl79]

As a member of the health care team that gets the front line position to all the nastiest, most contagious crap out there like strep/rsv/tb/flu (I'm a respiratory therapist), heck, I'm even the one who has to suction the yucky stuff out and handle it to send to lab and find out what it is. ..my contribution is that while its true washing with soap/water is best (I work dominantly in the NICU and there's a reason they have scrub stations every 5 ft as opposed to sanitizer for when I have to handle my pre-term 28 week and younger babies), sanitizer has surely saved my buns in a crunch and aided in the prevention of taking something to the next patient or home to my family. So I echo all opinions in that aspect.

However, a couple of things that I think are pretty important but have been less represented are: a good shower at the end of the day before you get in your bed. Its easy for us to forget who might have coughed/hacked/sneezed behind us and contaminated our hair, necks, elbows. .. things we don't necessarily think to wash off with soap and water. I'll be the first to admit that after a long grueling 12hr shift overnight, I have been guilty of just getting home & passing out on my pillow. Likely transferred virus, etc from my hair, to said pillow before I inhaled it into my body. I could almost connect every single time I did that dumb move to getting sick or getting my household sick. Second: hydration is right on the money. Keeping ourselves hydrated constantly so we don't even get to the point of feeling thirsty is key. Everybody, medical personnel or not, who has stepped foot in a hospital knows fluids are usually the first course of action to almost anything that comes through.
Probably what I find most challenging at a place like WDW is the big variations between everyone's hygiene practices. like PPs have mentioned, some skip handwashing in bathrooms, or rub their nose before touching common use dispensers, or cough/sneeze into the air of a crowded queue. Its frustrating to accept I can only control my own habits

 

[BlackMagicWoman]

I just wash my hands after using a restroom and before eating. I don't wipe down the hotel room and all the characters and the bus seats etc.

Haven't gotten sick yet. Knock on wood.

 

[DisneyOma]

How long after exposure does it take to get sick? I thought it was 3-7 days, depending on the strain of the virus or bacteria in question? So, if you are coming in contact with something the very first day there, it will take a bit to actually feel sick, right? I'm guessing a lot of people are coming to WDW contagious, and they allow themselves to get worn down and then feel sick?

Chlorox wipes are dangerous, aren't they? They kill only a certain percentage of germs, and then allow the stronger ones to thrive?

 

[librarymom2007]

We have never gotten sick after a visit. We use hand sanitizer before meals and of course wash hands after bathroom!

 

[Karin1984]

I am never concerned of germs, except one time. And it was at Disney. Last month in DLP we went to visit Mickey. And as a good bye he wanted a kiss on the nose. That was the first and only time when I thought: whose lips were there before mine?

But in the moment, I did it. And it seemed rude not to kiss your host goodbye...

It ended up in a cute pic. But I can see by the look on my face I think: what am I doing?

 

[Nancyg56]

As someone with a masters in microbiology I could not AGREE more! Wash hands often and teach your kids to not put things in their mouths--including their own fingers. And don't play with bubble gum while chewing it (personal pet peeve.)

LOL! Yup! We wash hands a lot! And try to keep the youngsters from touching their faces.

I echo the cleaning on the planes - more germs there than most places. I have wipes and hand sanitizer- use wipes after dicier rides/interactive ques. Agree with everyone above- hand washing is #1 defense, but we do wipes/sanitizer in between. Also, you can put your hotel remote control in a ziplock bag to further protect from germs- as that is not cleaned as consistently as other things in hotel room. Yes, I know I'm ridiculous.

I was going to suggest the plastic bag for the remote control. We always do that. WE also wipe down the airline armrests, etc, and my DSIL takes a few minutes to wipe down light fixtures, the toilet handle and that kind of thing in the room when we arrive. I have no idea if it works, but we feel better.

As a member of the health care team that gets the front line position to all the nastiest, most contagious crap out there like strep/rsv/tb/flu (I'm a respiratory therapist), heck, I'm even the one who has to suction the yucky stuff out and handle it to send to lab and find out what it is. ..my contribution is that while its true washing with soap/water is best (I work dominantly in the NICU and there's a reason they have scrub stations every 5 ft as opposed to sanitizer for when I have to handle my pre-term 28 week and younger babies), sanitizer has surely saved my buns in a crunch and aided in the prevention of taking something to the next patient or home to my family. So I echo all opinions in that aspect.

I wanted t say HI! My sister is a respiratory therapist in a childrens hospital, also in the nicu and picu. What she comes in contact with is just crazy! Thank you for what you do!

You cannot control anyone elses personal habits, and you cannot know who or what touched the handles, railings, etc before you, so I figure the best thing is to try to control your own habits. My friend works in a dentist office, and she is able to ge the handi dandi sanitizing wipes that are used there. I use them on vacation, wiping down whatever I think the mousekeepers may just give a lick and a promise to. We also wipe the seatbelt clasp on the airplane. We dont do this in lines, or on attractions, but we do carry sanitizer onus and use it throughout the day. Handwashing is key.

After that we just take our chances.

 

[cjparker0110]

There are no meds which will make you safe from colds, or that heal quickly. However, there are many things you can do to strengthen and improve your immune system. There is plenty of info out there for diets which can do this. You may still get sick though. I don't know of anyone who does not get sick. What should you do if you do get a cold? Well, everyone's body responds differently, but I know for my family we all do very well if we take Hyland's Cold and Cough for kids. (yes...the adult dose is on the package). They do sell an "adult" version but I forget the name of it. But I will warn you that it costs a few dollars more for the exact same amount and strength so we just go with the kids version. Usually, if we take it immediately upon getting a cold, we are done in 1-2 days. Before, I would be sick for 2 weeks so it definitely works for me.

Aside from that, wash your hands. Bring disinfectant wipes or hand sanitizer for when you're in line and can't get to a sink. This is the single best thing you can do. Also, make sure kids (and yourself) know not to rub your eyes, nose or put anything in your mouth until you do wash your hands. This is how most of the germs spread.

 

[PollyannaMom]

We do pop a few Airborne gummies starting a few days before our trip and continuing during. (We take one a day - I think the bottle says two.) Maybe it helps, maybe it's a placebo effect, but it definitely doesn't give me a stomach ache.

I do use a cleaning wipe on the hotel remote.

And we do use hand sanitizer before eating if we can't actually wash at a sink.

Other than that, I think I think the important things are the same as at home:
1) Avoid touching your face.
2) Get enough sleep.
3) Stay hydrated.

I think getting sick on vacation is just as much about pushing yourself as it is about the number of germs you're exposed to. It's easy to get worn down getting ready for the trip, and then many people get up early and stay up late during the trip. It just all adds up.