Catching Flu

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Anchor lead: Flu viruses can catch up with you almost anywhere, Elizabeth Tracey reports

Now that flu season has arrived, there is a risk you can pick up the infection from almost any surface someone with the flu has sneezed or coughed on. That’s according to Clare Rock, an infectious disease expert at Johns Hopkins.

Rock: The virus can persist on surfaces. If you were to touch those surfaces those viruses can be transferred to your hands, and if you were then to touch your mouth or your nose or even sometimes your eyes, that virus can be transmitted to you and you can catch influenza virus. That really is the importance of making sure that we’re doing frequent hand hygiene, and making sure that if we are sick with influenza that we’re not going to work where we could be transmitting the virus potentially.  :30

Rock emphasizes cough etiquette, using a tissue or your elbow to sneeze or cough into so you don’t spread your viruses around. She says most people produce viruses for 6 or 7 days when they’re infected. At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.