要說誰家最干凈，人們常會想到一塵不染的地板，透亮的窗玻璃，整潔的四壁……但是家里最臟的地方人們卻常常忽略掉，其實也正是這些地方藏著的細菌讓人們生病。那到底家里什么地方最臟呢？
Someone in your house have the sniffles? Watch out for the refrigerator door handle. The TV remote, too. A new study finds that cold sufferers often leave their germs there, where they can live for two days or longer. Scientists at the University of Virginia, long known for its virology research, tested surfaces in the homes of people with colds and reported the results at the nation's premier conference on infectious diseases.
有人在你的屋里打噴嚏嗎？注意你的冰箱門把手和電視遙控器。一項最新的研究發現，感冒者通常會把細菌留在這些地方，而這些細菌可以存活兩天或更長。在以微生物學的研究而聞名的弗吉尼亞大學，科學家測試了感冒患者家里的可觸表面，并在國家感染疾病首席會議上提出了測驗結果。
Doctors don't know how often people catch colds from touching germy surfaces as opposed to, say, shaking a sick person's hand, said Dr. Birgit Winther, an ear, nose and throat specialist who helped conduct the study.
本次試驗研究的負責人，耳、鼻、喉專家Dr Birgit Wintehr表示，和與病人握手相比，醫生不知道人們通過觸摸帶菌表面而感染疾病的幾率。
Two years ago, she and other doctors showed that germs survived in hotel rooms a day after guests left, waiting to be picked up by the next person checking in.
兩年前，她和其他的醫生曾經證明，在客戶離開之后，細菌能在酒店房間里繼續存活1-2天，等著危害下一個入住的客人。
For the new study, researchers started with 30 adults showing early symptoms of colds. Sixteen tested positive for rhinovirus. They were asked to name 10 places in their homes they had touched in the preceding 18 hours, and researchers used DNA tests to hunt for rhinovirus.
在一項新的研究中，研究人員從30個有早期感冒癥狀的人開始測試。其中的16人被證明確實染病。他們被要求說出在屋里18個小時之內接觸的10個地方，然后研究人員通過DNA測試來捕捉這些病菌。
"We found that commonly touched areas like refrigerator doors and handles were positive about 40 percent of the time for cold germs" , Winther said.
Winther說：“我們發現，被廣泛接觸的地方，比如說冰箱門和把手，有40%的可能性會被感冒細菌利用?！?/p>
All three of the salt and pepper shakers they tested were contaminated. Other spots found to harbor the germ: 6 out of 18 doorknobs; 8 of 14 refrigerator handles; 3 of 13 light switches; 6 of 10 remote controls; 8 of 10 bathroom faucets; 4 of 7 phones, and 3 of 4 dishwasher handles.
三個鹽和胡椒瓶都被污染，其他一些地方也被證實是病毒的港灣：包括18個門把手中的6個，14個冰箱扶手中的8個，13個電燈開關中的3個，10個遙控器中的6個，10個水龍頭中的8個，7個電話中的4個和4個洗碗機扶手中的3個。
Next, the researchers deliberately contaminated surfaces with participants' mucus and then tested to see whether rhinovirus stuck to their fingers when they turned on lights, answered the phone or did other common tasks. More than half of the participants got the virus on their fingertips 48 hours after the mucus was smeared.
接下來，研究人員故意讓一些物體的表面帶菌，然后開燈、接電話或者從事其他日常活動，看看病菌是否會附著到手指上。結果48小時后，超過半數的人指尖沾染了病毒。
The study was sponsored by Reckitt-Benckiser Inc., makers of Lysol, but no products were tested in the research. The study, designed by doctors with no ties to the company, was an effort to lay the groundwork for future research on germs and ways to get rid of them.
這項研究由Lysol消毒劑的生產商Rechitt-Benchised.Inc公司贊助，但是測試中沒有涉及該廠商的任何產品。由醫生主導的該項研究與廠商沒有任何關系，只是為了深入研究細菌和清除細菌而做基礎性的工作。
In a separate study, the university's Drs. Diane Pappas and Owen Hendley went germ-hunting on toys.
另一項研究中，弗吉尼亞大學的Diane Pappas博士和Owen Hendley博士研究了細菌在玩具上的傳播。
Tests showed fragments of cold viruses on 20 percent of all toys tested--20 percent of those in the "sick child" waiting room, 17 percent in the "well child" waiting room, and 30 percent in a sack of toys that kids are allowed to choose from after being good for a shot.
試驗表明，20%的玩具上可以檢測到感冒細菌的碎片，其中，20%的病菌存在于在兒童病人候診室，17%存在于健康兒童候診室，而作為孩子打完針后獎勵的一袋玩具，則發現有30%存在病菌。
"Mamas know this," Hendley said. "They say, 'We go to a doctor for a well-child checkup, the kids play with the toys and two days later they have a cold.'"
“媽媽們知道這一點，”Hendley說，“她們說：‘我們把健康的孩子帶來體檢，孩子們完了一會玩具，回去兩天后就感冒了?！?/p>
There is no proof that the remnants themselves can infect, but their presence suggests a risk, said Dr. Paul Auwaerter, an infectious-diseases specialist at Johns Hopkins University. He was familiar with the study but had no role in it.
來自Johns Hopkins大學的傳染病學博士Paul Auwaerter表示，并沒有證據表明殘留物會導致感染，但是他們的存在是一個風險。他對這項研究非常了解，但是并沒有參與此次的研究。
Doctors have long advised frequent hand-washing to avoid spreading germs. Wearing surgical masks and using hand sanitizers also can help, a novel University of Michigan study found.
醫生長久以來都建議通過勤洗手來減少病毒的傳播。密歇根大學的新研究表明，帶口罩和用洗手液同樣會有幫助。
（來源：天星教育網 實習生許雅寧 英語點津Yvonne編輯）
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