{"id":2805112,"date":"2022-09-26T11:43:54","date_gmt":"2022-09-26T15:43:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.futurity.org\/?p=2805112"},"modified":"2022-09-26T11:48:13","modified_gmt":"2022-09-26T15:48:13","slug":"flu-touching-surface-2805112-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.futurity.org\/flu-touching-surface-2805112-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Expert: You won’t get the flu by touching stuff"},"content":{"rendered":"

You’re unlikely to get the flu from touching a surface, explains microbiologist Emanuel Goldman.<\/p>\n

In the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic<\/a>, we thought the coronavirus was everywhere\u2014stuck to our cellphone screens, smeared on our mail, dangling from doorknobs, even clinging to our cereal boxes. But it wasn’t.<\/p>\n

Despite public health guidance suggesting surfaces be disinfected to stop the spread of COVID-19, the virus wasn’t significantly transmitted through inanimate surfaces and objects, what microbiologists call “fomites.” As with all respiratory viruses\u2014from the flu<\/a> to the common cold\u2014transmission was and remains almost exclusively airborne.<\/p>\n

Goldman<\/a>, a professor of microbiology at the Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, was among the first scientists to challenge conventional wisdom by warning that hygiene theater\u2014overzealous disinfection of surfaces\u2014had “become counterproductive” for public health. In April 2021, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) agreed.<\/p>\n

Goldman is once again sounding the virus alarm. His recent work delves deeper into laboratory testing failures and advocates for a science-based path out of the pandemic. He will present his findings<\/a> at a respiratory disease conference in December in New York.<\/p>\n

Here, he answers questions about fomites and why we still need to wash our hands:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You’re unlikely to get the flu from touching a surface, explains microbiologist Emanuel Goldman. 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