要说谁家最干净，人们常会想到一尘不染的地板，透亮的窗玻璃，整洁的四壁……但是家里最脏的地方人们却常常忽略掉，其实也正是这些地方藏着的细菌让人们生病。那到底家里什么地方最脏呢？

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.

有人在你的屋里打喷嚏吗？注意你的冰箱门把手和电视遥控器。一项最新的研究发现，感冒者通常会把细菌留在这些地方，而这些细菌可以存活两天或更长。在以微生物学的研究而闻名的弗吉尼亚大学，科学家测试了感冒患者家里的可触表面，并在国家感染疾病首席会议上提出了测验结果。

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.

本次试验研究的负责人，耳、鼻、喉专家Dr Birgit Wintehr表示，和与病人握手相比，医生不知道人们通过触摸带菌表面而感染疾病的几率。

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.

两年前，她和其他的医生曾经证明，在客户离开之后，细菌能在酒店房间里继续存活1-2天，等着危害下一个入住的客人。

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.

在一项新的研究中，研究人员从30个有早期感冒症状的人开始测试。其中的16人被证明确实染病。他们被要求说出在屋里18个小时之内接触的10个地方，然后研究人员通过DNA测试来捕捉这些病菌。

"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说：“我们发现，被广泛接触的地方，比如说冰箱门和把手，有40%的可能性会被感冒细菌利用。”

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.

三个盐和胡椒瓶都被污染，其他一些地方也被证实是病毒的港湾：包括18个门把手中的6个，14个冰箱扶手中的8个，13个电灯开关中的3个，10个遥控器中的6个，10个水龙头中的8个，7个电话中的4个和4个洗碗机扶手中的3个。

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.

接下来，研究人员故意让一些物体的表面带菌，然后开灯、接电话或者从事其他日常活动，看看病菌是否会附着到手指上。结果48小时后，超过半数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.

这项研究由Lysol消毒剂的生产商Rechitt-Benchised.Inc公司赞助，但是测试中没有涉及该厂商的任何产品。由医生主导的该项研究与厂商没有任何关系，只是为了深入研究细菌和清除细菌而做基础性的工作。

In a separate study, the university's Drs. Diane Pappas and Owen Hendley went germ-hunting on toys.

另一项研究中，弗吉尼亚大学的Diane Pappas博士和Owen Hendley博士研究了细菌在玩具上的传播。

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.

试验表明，20%的玩具上可以检测到感冒细菌的碎片，其中，20%的病菌存在于在儿童病人候诊室，17%存在于健康儿童候诊室，而作为孩子打完针后奖励的一袋玩具，则发现有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.'"

“妈妈们知道这一点，”Hendley说，“她们说：‘我们把健康的孩子带来体检，孩子们完了一会玩具，回去两天后就感冒了。’”

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.

来自Johns Hopkins大学的传染病学博士Paul Auwaerter表示，并没有证据表明残留物会导致感染，但是他们的存在是一个风险。他对这项研究非常了解，但是并没有参与此次的研究。

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.

医生长久以来都建议通过勤洗手来减少病毒的传播。密歇根大学的新研究表明，带口罩和用洗手液同样会有帮助。

（来源：天星教育网 实习生许雅宁 英语点津Yvonne编辑）

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