10 surprising places where germs lurk

The flight attendant
The threat: Flight attendants are exposed to dozens of sniffling and coughing passengers and the surfaces they touch. When attendants need a pee break, they head into the same latrine you use. Now consider that when Charles Gerba, Ph.D., co-author of "The Germ Freak's Guide to Outwitting Colds and Flu," tested commercial-jet bathrooms, he found that surfaces from faucets to doorknobs were contaminated with E. coli.

Given all that germ exposure, it's no surprise that the Journal of Environmental Health Research recently revealed that you're 100 times as likely to catch a cold while flying than on the ground.

The solution: Pack a green-tea pill. In a 2007 University of Florida study, people who took a 450-milligram green-tea supplement twice a day for 3 months had a third fewer days of cold symptoms. Try Immune Guard ($30 for 60 pills, immune-guard.us), the brand used in the study.

Your bed
The threat: More than 84 percent of beds in U.S. homes host dust mites. These microscopic critters live in your sheets and feed on your dead skin, and their fecal matter and corpses contribute to asthma and allergies.

The solution: Don't make your bed. A study from London's Kingston University found that dust mites need humidity levels above 50 percent to survive. And while they can't live in the arid conditions of an unmade bed, a made bed traps the moisture they need to thrive. Mount an air attack, too. Try bundling a dehumidifier with an oscillating fan for a two-pronged moisture eliminator.

The lemon wedge in your drink
The threat: In a 2007 study from the Journal of Environmental Health, nearly 70 percent of the lemon wedges smashed onto restaurant glasses contained disease-causing microbes. Researchers ordered drinks at 21 different restaurants, securing 76 lemons. Testing revealed 25 different microorganisms lingering on the lemons, including E. coli and other fecal bacteria.

The solution: Tell the waiter you prefer your drink sans fruit. Why risk it?

Your contact-lens case
The threat: In a 2007 Chinese study, 34 percent of contact-lens cases tested were found to be crawling with germs like Serratia and Staphylococcus aureus. These microorganisms can cause keratitis, an inflammatory eye disease that can damage the cornea and lead to blindness.

The solution: Dump the used solution and thoroughly rinse your case in hot water every day, and replace your lens case at least every 3 months. And buy a new bottle of solution every other month, even if you haven't used it all: A separate Chinese study discovered that multipurpose solutions lose most of their germ-fighting power after 2 months.

Your shower curtain
The threat: The soap scum hanging out on your curtain is more than just unsightly. A study in Applied and Environmental Microbiology found that vinyl shower curtains are microbe meccas, breeding potential pathogens, such as infection-causing Sphingomonas and Methylobacterium. Plus, the force of the shower spray will make germs take flight, says the study author, Norman Pace, Ph.D., a professor of molecular biology at the University of Colorado at Boulder.

The solution: Hang a fabric shower curtain from the rod. It will still harbor bacteria, but it's much easier to clean than scrubbing down a vinyl curtain. Just toss it in the washer, and use the hottest water the fabric can handle. Pace washes his shower curtain once a month but advises anyone with a weakened immune system (that's you if you're highly stressed or battling a disease) to do so more frequently,

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