Plastic toys harbour nasty viruses

Achild’s toys could pose a risk to their health, increasing the risk of infectious diseases, experts have warned.

Certain viruses, such as influenza, could survive on the surface of toys long enough to result in exposure, new research suggests. Experts tested how long a virus could survive on pieces of flexible plastic children’s toy, a squeaking frog.

They were able to recover infectious virons - complete particles of the virus - from the toy up to 24 hours after the toy was contaminated, at 60 per cent humidity. “They think about getting them from other people. Children are vulnerable to contracting infectious diseases because they put their hands and foreign objects in their mouths, and their immune systems aren’t fully developed.” Examples include influenza and Coronaviruses, such as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) or Middle East Respiratory syndrome (MERS). Source: Daily Mail