If I am going to be in the hospital for a few days, will any books or magazines I bring be infected with the hospital's germs?

People go in and out of hospitals and don’t usually spread the germs so I would think books and magazines would be okay. I hope all goes well for you.

If you’re really worried, spray them with Lysol afterwards. But like @chyna said, people and things go in and out every day, and somehow we don’t have 3 outbreaks of MRSA a day.

Provided your not going to be in areas where sick people go, you should be fine. By sick areas I mean like the emergency rooms or waiting rooms for clinics that handle diseases and cold’s.
I find in most hospitals they tend to seperate the acute care patients from those coming in for things like cancer, broken bones, or other things that require surgery and aren’t contagious to other patients.
Plus they are usually pretty good with keeping things sterile.

The answer to this question is maybe. I would take magazines and then toss them. The incident of MRSA has been higher than normal of late.

Why not leave them for others to read when you are checked out? Like people do with flowers.

I was going to say you are more likely to get an infection in the hospital than your magazines are but really, I don’t know, that just kind of makes sense to me. But why take the chance.particularly if it’s something that worries you? In an excess of caution, as others have suggested, maybe it would be best to leave them there. Why worry yourself over it if you don’t have to? You will have enough on your mind.

and here’s wishing that you

Get Well Soon!

Iatrogenic illness and disease, which is the fancy way of saying “things that you catch in the hospital when you’re trying to be fixed up from other things” are major problems at all hospitals. But whether your reading materials will “pick up” something is a lot less worrisome than the question of whether you will, yourself. Take the books and magazines and don’t worry about them; take care of yourself.

I have no idea about the germs, but if it bothers you in any way, take your magazines on a one-way trip. Here’s to a speedy recovery!

Just give ‘em a mist of Lysol and I am sure they will be fine. It is unlikely that they will become ‘infected’ in an airborne manner, only if you pass them around or drop them in someones bedpan. lol

You will be in the hospital too. The germs will be on you.

I am 67 and have had 16 surgeries in my lifetime. I have read magazines, used the phone, and just about anything else that a hospital has to offer. I agree that germs are everywhere in a hospital. I have never had a problem.

If you are in doubt, leave the mags at the hospital for the next poor soul.