Do cold or flu germs stay alive on chapstick? I have a hardly-used tube but I don’t want to re-infect myself if it’s germy.
You are now immune to the cold (rhino) virus strain you just had.
Keep the Chapstick.
Thanks for the information.
I’m not so sure about that; I’ve heard recommendations to replace toothbrushes after a cold or flu. A toothbrush has more places for viruses to hide than a chapstick, but the principle of not re-infecting yourself remains.
I personally would not worry about the germs.
Even if you’re worried about germs, don’t throw the whole thing out. Just extrude a quarter inch or so of the chapstick and cut it off. Chapstick is too thick for the germs to be moving deeper into the wax, so removing the top layer should take all of them with it.
And I’m not so sure about that. Colds are caused by viruses which are cleared by developing immunity to them (short and long term). So, it’s not clear to me that “re-infecting” yourself with a virus you’re already immune to can lead to another cold.
Yes, viruses can mutate, but (usually) immunity to the ‘ancestor’ virus will protect you from its early descendants, i.e. only many generations later, may the cumulative effect of mutations allow the (mutated) virus to be unrecognized by your immune system. In any case, I don’t think viruses will mutate on a foreign body such as Chapstick. AFAIK, that only takes place to any significant degree when it’s rapidly proliferating, as occurs when it’s successfully infected a host.
Finally, many viruses do not survive on ‘fomites’ (foreign bodies capable of harboring and transmitting infections). I admit that some do, though. Predicting such survival is very tough since some viruses survive better at higher temperatures and low humidity, while some do the opposite, while some others need low temps and high humidity, etc.
I’m not sure, either. The bottom line for me is a toothbrush costs a buck or two. 