Sun Lite for Feb. 24, 2003

Monday, Feb. 24, 2003 | 8:32 a.m.

Nothing to sneeze at

Here we are, nose-deep in the middle of cold and flu season. Still, many sufferers choose to tough it out at the office rather than battle the bugs at home.

Oh, how their co-workers wish they wouldn't come to work, spreading germs willy-nilly to every Tom, Dick and Harriet from the payroll department to the break room. The average office, it seems, is teeming with infection. Research recently released by University of Arizona microbiologist Dr. Charles Gerba maps the disease trail.

Gerba and his staffers painted the hands of the participants of a study with a test virus and sent the sickos out to touch doorknobs, phones and staplers. Because some cold and flu bugs survive up to 72 hours on surfaces, Gerba says, "An office can become an incubator" for viruses.

Study participants left 130,000 "viral particles" on the doorknob; 110,000 on the telephone; and 90,000 on the stapler. Only between 10 and 100 common-cold/ virus particles are needed for the average person to become infected.

Gives an entirely new meaning to the term "gross pay."

Loyal flush

Speaking of the office, how would you rate your workplace's restroom (germs aside, that is)?

Kimberly-Clark Professional, provider of tissue (Kleenex, anyone?), towel and skin-care products for workplaces, is looking for the top office loo in the land for its Best Office Building Bathroom Contest.

What boosts a bathroom to greatness? Maybe the stalls are "cozy" enough to serve as a sanctuary for stressed-out subordinates. Heck, how about an endless supply of toilet-seat covers and plenty of paper towels? Is that too much to ask? We don't think so, especially since, according to Kimberly-Clark, a typical worker spends the equivalent of three workdays per year in the office restroom.

Think your company's bathroom can't be beat? As long as it's in a high-rise building of at least six stories, nominate it for the contest by sending a written description (100 words or less) and a photo by April 30 to the contest, in care of Kapnek Communications, 2300 Computer Ave., Suite E-29, Willow Grove, PA 19090. (Complete contest rules are available at kcprofessional.com/ bestofficebathroom.)

The person who submits the winning entry will be awarded a 15-inch LCD flat-panel desktop TV. The building will get surprise! a supply of free toilet paper. Candied caterpillars?

Enough with the bathroom humor. Let's get back to bugs not the coughing, mucus-ridden type, but the creepy, crawly, um, chocolate kind.

Drop those science textbooks: There's a tasty new way for youngsters to learn about insects. The Bug Bites line of milk- and dark-chocolate candy squares come packaged with "bug trading cards" featuring factoids and photos of 50 insects from around the globe.

Each card includes data about a bug's "family," "order" and a close-up, color photo of the insect, shot by entomologist Dexter Sear, who spent the past 16 years traveling the planet photographing bugs in their natural habitats. Sear's goal: "I want people to think of insects in a new way to really reconsider their attitudes toward these important creatures." Pairing them with chocolate should do the trick.

Bug Bites are made by the Endangered Species Chocolate Company, based in Talent, Ore., and can be ordered (64 per $28 box) by visiting chocolatebar.com.