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" Is it just me, or are more people sporting surgical masks at malls, grocery stores and other public places these days? Last week I saw several people at Whole Foods masked up--and it wasn&amp;#x27;t an early start at Halloween either. It made me wonder (especially in light of new research, which I&amp;#x27;ll tell you about after the jump)--how many of us would actually go out in public with a surgical mask on?I&amp;#x27;m the first to admit that I&amp;#x27;m a little germ-phobic (which isn&amp;#x27;t really a word, I know). I wash my hands more than most people do--probably not such a bad thing--keep a bottle of hand sanitizer in my car, and have a thing about door knobs in public places (if I can avoid touching them with my skin, I will at all costs!). But even with flu season upon us, there&amp;#x27;s no way I&amp;#x27;d wear a surgical mask in public--even if it meant reducing my risk of getting a cold or the flu. Unless you&amp;#x27;re seriously ill, have a highly infectious disease, or are immune compromised, I guess it just seems a little crazy to live life from behind a surgical mask. What next? No human contact? Life in a germ-resistant bubble-like home? Still, researchers at Michigan State University say wearing masks and using alcohol-based hand sanitizers may cut your flu risk by as much as 50 percent. Tell me, would you consider wearing a mask in public to reduce your flu risk or do you think that&amp;#x27;s a little much? Photo: iStock"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.glamour.com/health-fitness/blogs/vitamin-g/2008/10/flu-season-jitters-would-you-w>