There are those who avoid touching the toilet seat, those who open the doors of public bathrooms with a handkerchief and those who, on public transport, try not to lean on anything. Then he arrives at the office, turns on the computer, places his hands on the shared keyboard and starts working without thinking too much. The fear of flu contagion often follows its own logicin which what appears dirty worries us much more than what we touch on a daily basis.
And as the flu season approaches, this perception is also changing the habits of Italians. Almost one in three has given up going to work, the gym or other closed places at least once for fear of getting sick. And 94.9% feel exposed to contagion in at least one of the shared environments they frequent during the winter.
This relationship between fear, hygiene and daily behavior is photographed by a new survey carried out by mUp research for Initial, on a sample of 1,002 Italians between 18 and 74 years old. A research that above all reveals a distance between perceived dangers and knowledge of the mechanisms of transmission of infections.
Influence, because the toilet is scarier than the keyboard
The most curious fact concerns the objects we touch every day. 82.3% of those interviewed feel very annoyed at the idea of touching the seat of a public toilet, while 70.6% list the flush button as one of the most unpleasant surfaces.
The percentage drops to 49.1% when talking about shared keyboards and mice. Even less concern arouses elevator buttons, indicated by 45.1%, and coffee machines or vending machines, which stop at 34.2%.
The paradox is evident: what we associate with dirt is more feared, while objects used continuously by multiple people are perceived as relatively harmless.
«There is a profound difference between the visible clean, the sanitized and the perception of risk», explains Carmine Trocchia, QHS Manager and RSPP of Rentokil Initial Italia.
In workplaces, the expert observes, toilets are generally subjected to particularly rigorous cleaning protocols. Keyboards, mice and other shared objects, however, don’t always receive the same attention.
This doesn’t mean that a keyboard is necessarily more dangerous than a toilet: the survey measures respondents’ perceptions, not the actual contamination of surfaces. And above all, when it comes to influenza, the main transmission mechanism remains respiratory.
The places where Italians are most afraid of getting sick
Even the ranking of the environments considered most risky tells something about our habits.
Public transport causes the greatest concern, indicated by 62.2% of those interviewed, followed by hospitals (45.9%) and shopping centers (34.2%).
The workplace worries just 29.4%, the gym 20.7% and the restaurant only 11.4%. Hotels close the ranking with 2.6%.
But feeling safe in a familiar environment does not necessarily mean being safe.
The actual risk of transmission of respiratory viruses depends on several factors, including proximity to infected people, crowding, duration of exposure and above all the ventilation of spaces.
According to the World Health Organization, influenza spreads primarily through respiratory particles emitted when an infected person breathes, talks, coughs or sneezes.
For this reason, a poorly ventilated and crowded office can present conditions favorable to transmission, even when desks and floors appear perfectly clean.
The gesture we make without realizing it: touching our face
Research identifies another contradiction in our hygiene habits.
On the one hand, 80.4% of Italians say they often or always wash or sanitize their hands after touching shared surfaces. On the other hand, 55.7% admit to bringing their hands to their eyes, nose or mouth at least sometimes before washing them.
An automatic behavior that can favor the transfer of pathogens from the hands to the mucous membranes.
Even when it comes to the use of sanitizing gels, different habits emerge: 30.9% of those interviewed say they always use them when they find a dispenser, while a quarter say they use them more frequently compared to the period before the pandemic.
Experts remind us that soap and water remain essential for hand hygiene, especially when they are visibly dirty. Hydroalcoholic solutions with at least 60% alcohol are a useful alternative in other situations.
But flu prevention cannot be reduced to hand cleaning alone: air exchange and limiting exposure to contagious people remain essential aspects.
The fear of the flu changes habits and costs days of work
Perhaps the most significant aspect of the research is the impact that the fear of getting sick now has on daily life.
In the last twelve months, 28.6% of those interviewed have avoided work, the gym or other closed environments at least once for fear of contracting an infection.
56.9% gave up using a bathroom or common space because they thought it was not very clean.
Then there are the concrete consequences of seasonal diseases. 57.5% of employed respondents say they have missed at least one day of work in the last year due to flu or flu-like symptoms. The research reports an average of 4.13 days of absence.
Data that highlights how respiratory infections can affect not only individual health, but also the organization of work.
How to reduce the risk of contagion in closed environments
The research shows how much Italians seek reassurance even through immediately visible elements.
49.3% feel more at ease when they find devices that work without contact, 38.3% appreciate the presence of sanitizing gels and 38.1% indicate visibly clean surfaces. For 87.7%, finding dispensers in bathrooms that are always functioning and stocked increases trust in the environment.
But visible cleanliness alone is no guarantee against the flu.
Ventilation of closed spaces, maintenance of systems and correct daily hygiene represent complementary measures. These are accompanied by specific flu prevention tools, starting with the vaccination recommended according to health indications.
There is, therefore, no single intervention capable of eliminating the risk.
The real question is learning to distinguish what disgusts us from what actually favors the transmission of a virus. Why a bathroom may look uninviting, a desk may appear flawless, but the risk of contagion is not simply measured by how clean an environment seems to us.
