Author: Dutchy
Date: 2009-02-08 21:08
From the Mayo Clinic:
Quote:
Flu germs: How long can they live outside the body?
If someone has the flu or a cold and coughs into his hand, and then he touches a doorknob, how long can those germs live on that doorknob?
- Joe / New Jersey
Mayo Clinic infectious disease specialist James Steckelberg, M.D., and colleagues answer select questions from readers.
Answer
The length of time that cold or flu germs can survive outside the body on an environmental surface, such as a doorknob, varies greatly. But the suspected range is from a few seconds to 48 hours — depending on the specific virus and the type of surface.
Flu viruses tend to live longer on surfaces than cold viruses do. Also, it's generally believed that cold and flu viruses live longer on nonporous surfaces — such as plastic, metal or wood — than they do on porous surfaces — such as fabrics, skin or paper.
And, from the NIH:
Quote:
Rhinoviruses can survive on environmental surfaces for several hours under ambient conditions.
So there ya go--you are not receiving cold viruses from your reeds.
And if you really want to kill suspected viruses on your reeds, the Lysol solution and the household bleach in the above study worked best, BTW.
|
|
The Oboe BBoard
.jpg){kind=small}
