Talk dirty to me
The telephone is one of the greatest collectors of germs and can transfer them from one person to another in no time. Use a cotton ball and rubbing alcohol (don’t soak the cotton ball) to clean the phone and its cradle. Don’t forget to clean the keys and outside portion of the phone that you hold. You’d be surprised how dirty this thing gets. Continue to clean the phone throughout your illness. After you are well, try to clean the phone once a month (this goes for your work and home phone).

Instant message flu
Another area where germs love to live is the keyboard of your computer. Follow the instructions that come with your computer on cleaning a keyboard. You can also purchase specific electronic cleanser or simply use some cotton and a sparse amount of rubbing alcohol for the keys. Don’t forget to clean the mouse as well.

Turn over a new leaf
Try to think of all the places that you put your hands in a day (this is not intended to be a dirty question). All of these areas will be great meeting places for germs. Light switches, door knobs, sink handles, remote controls, and any other community property are bound for more than one person to touch in a day (unless you live alone). The same thing goes for your work/school environment. Elevator buttons, escalator handles, bathroom doors, and endless community property that is bound to be touched by the sick (and those who don’t wash their hands after going to the bathroom). These germ beds become horrific breeding grounds for the cold, flu, and whatever is the latest and greatest sickness epidemic.

Try spraying Lysol on the door handles and sink knobs (in your home only; I wouldn‘t advise walking around your college campus or work to do this) to kill unwanted germs and help to cut down on the contamination to others.

Don’t shop and drop
Every hair on my body stands on end when I hear someone near me cough as if they were trying to get to the very bottom portion of their lungs and are trying to go deeper. It seems like no matter where you move in a store or a mall, the sick person follows you wherever you go, coughing all the way.

No matter how much you like to shop, please try to refrain when you’re a time bomb for germs. Anything a sick shopper touches becomes a breeding ground for future sick people. If you’re healthy enough to shop, then you’re healthy enough to work (at least, that is what your boss might say, when he/she sees you at the mall on your sick day), so stay home and get some rest instead.