In winter, many viruses like the flu circulate. Fortunately, it is possible to limit the risks of contaminating oneself and others.
All the advice is good to take in winter to avoid getting sick and making others sick. On social media, people even film themselves disinfecting their homes after being sick. But is it really necessary? When should you disinfect surfaces at home? With what product? And how long does a virus live outside the body…? To see more clearly and counter preconceived ideas, a specialist told us the right reflexes to take.
First of all, no, it is not necessary to disinfect your home after a viral infection like the flu if you live alone. “We cannot re-infect ourselves alone,” virologist Suzanne Faure-Dupuy reminds us. Indeed, the flu virus only lives “24 to 48 hours on hard surfaces, and between 6 and 12 hours on soft surfaces such as fabrics”. Once flu symptoms have passed, the immune system is still active, at least during the short life of the virus on surfaces.
On the other hand, for people who do not live alone or who often have visitors, “it can be useful to disinfect surfaces” after a viral infection, confides the researcher at the Cochin Institute. But it’s all a question of timing! It is especially “while you are sick that you must do it” to avoid contaminating other people who live in the household. Disinfection is therefore one of the barrier measures that limit the risk of spreading the virus, in the same way as wearing a mask, frequent ventilation of rooms or social distancing.
However, there is one action that the virologist advises above all: “disinfect your hands when you get home, before touching surfaces”. Although this advice may seem obvious, it is not necessarily followed by everyone, far from it. This simple gesture to do upon returning home is nevertheless very effective: it allows us to “avoid contaminating our interior and the surfaces we will touch”, since “it is often through our hands that we will contaminate surfaces,” recalls the researcher.
Of course, in general, having a clean interior is important, and certain surfaces must also be regularly disinfected to limit the presence of bacteria and viruses. There are many of them, but door handles, switches, cell phones and even remote controls are all traps. In short, everything that we touch a lot on a daily basis in a house! To disinfect properly, not all products are equal. Remember that you must use a disinfectant that says “bactericidal” and “virucidal”, or a product that contains at least 70% alcohol.
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