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Nobody likes getting sick, and illness on holiday is even worse – who wants to waste their precious vacation days lying in bed when they could be out having fun? Unfortunately, the chances of catching a bug can be high when you’re travelling. From airports and planes crammed with passengers to hotel rooms and restaurants with questionable cleanliness (even if it’s not visible to the naked eye), no wonder so many of us end up with the lurgy abroad. Here, health experts discuss the major health risks that occur on summer holidays and how to avoid them. Airports “Airports often become crowded and therefore they present multiple hygiene risks,” suggests Dr Donald Grant from The Independent Pharmacy. “Touching surfaces, using airport bathrooms and being in close proximity to others can cause bacteria to spread, so it’s important to be hygiene-alert.” Plus, having to hand your passport, boarding pass and luggage to different staff members increases the number of touchpoints throughout your journey. Dr Angela Rai, GP from the London General Practice recommends regularly washing your hands or applying hand sanitiser as you make your way through the airport. She says: “Washing your hands or using hand sanitiser helps reduce the risk of transmission of lots of different infections, including viral infections, coughs and colds and potentially gastrointestinal infections as well.” Flying “If someone is sitting next to you [on an airplane] and they have a cold, it may well be that you might catch one,” says Dr Preethi Daniel, deputy medical director at London Doctors Clinic. “There are hundreds of viruses that cause illness and the fact that you are mixing with people from all over the world means exposure to viruses and bugs your body may not be used to already.” It’s not only airborne bugs that you have to worry about, says Grant: “Again, it’s important to wash or sanitise your hands frequently during your flight, especially before eating or drinking, after using the bathroom, or if you’ve touched your armrest, tray table or TV screen.” As an extra precaution, you might also want to wipe down your down your table and armrests with an antibacterial wipe. Hotel rooms “While all hotel rooms should be thoroughly cleaned between each guest’s stay, you can never be fully sure that your room is bacteria-free,” says Grant. “To be on the safe side, take some disinfectant wipes and give the surfaces a good wipe down when you arrive — and don’t forget the TV remote, which may have been handled by hundreds of people without being cleaned.” Be extra careful with eating and drinking utensils in your room, he adds: “You should avoid using drinking glasses or mugs provided by the hotel without cleaning them thoroughly first.” Food and drink When eating and drinking at local spots abroad, Daniel’s advice is to “check for cleanliness even in established restaurants; paying particular attention to the state of tablecloths, cutlery, glasses and whether the tables are wiped down properly”. Look out for flies on food as well, she warns: “They are often loaded with pathogens as they do not discriminate between feeding on food or faeces. “E. coli, salmonella or shigella are some of the most common causes of gastrointestinal infections on holiday. “Hepatitis A and typhoid are other infections you can contract from contaminated food or water.” Never drink tap water unless you know it’s safe, and beware of tap water being used in food and drink prep. Rai says to be careful with ice as it might have been made with tap water and “things like salads and raw vegetables that have been washed in that water”. “Stick to peelable fruit,” Daniel adds. “Bananas, mangoes and the like are perfectly fine to eat. Avoid anything that has already been peeled, chopped and is waiting in handy takeaway sizes for you.” Swimwear and towels “Unpleasant odours and growth of bacteria are some of the risks of poor hygiene when it comes to swimwear and beach towels,” says Daniel. “They trap moisture”, which could leave you vulnerable to “getting infections such as bacterial vaginosis or thrush”. Grant says: “Be mindful that your towel is likely getting dirtier on holiday than it would be at home — especially if you’re taking it to the beach or the pool. You should change or wash your towel at least every other day.” And unless you’ve got a different swimsuit for every day of the holiday, you’ll need to give it a wash. “You’re meant to wash your swimwear after every time you wear it, because you have to treat it like your underwear,” says Rai. Haven’t got access to a washing machine on holiday? Rai says: “Just gently hand wash your swimwear every time you use it with warm soapy water then hang it up to dry.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Pretty garden plants you didn’t know you could eat Group B Strep: 8 things every parent should know Princess Diana’s ‘black sheep’ jumper predicted to sell at auction for up to £70,000

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Regular daytime naps could be good for brain health, new research suggests. Daytime napping could slow the rate at which brains shrink as we age, the study led by researchers at UCL and the University of the Republic in Uruguay found. The researchers hope their findings into the health benefits of sleeping during the day will reduce any stigma that still exists around daytime napping. The study suggests the average difference in brain volume between people programmed to be habitual nappers and those who were not was equivalent to 2.6 to 6.5 years of ageing. Our findings suggest that, for some people, short daytime naps may be a part of the puzzle that could help preserve the health of the brain as we get older Dr Victoria Garfield, UCL Senior author Dr Victoria Garfield, MRC Unit for Lifelong Health & Ageing at UCL, said: “Our findings suggest that, for some people, short daytime naps may be a part of the puzzle that could help preserve the health of the brain as we get older.” The study, published in the journal Sleep Health, analysed data from people aged 40 to 69. Past research has suggested people who have had a short nap perform better in cognitive tests in the hours afterwards than those who did not nap. The new study looked at whether there was a causal relationship between daytime napping and brain health. Researchers looked at 97 snippets of DNA thought to determine people’s likelihood of habitual napping. They compared measures of brain health and cognition of people who are more genetically programmed to nap with people who did not have these changes in DNA, using data from 378,932 people from the UK Biobank study. They found that, overall, people predetermined to nap had a larger total brain volume. The genetic variants – DNA changes – influencing the likelihood of someone to nap were identified in an earlier study looking at data from 452,633 UK Biobank participants. But the researchers did not find a difference in how well those programmed to be habitual nappers performed on three other measures of brain health and cognitive function. Lead author and PhD candidate Valentina Paz, University of the Republic (Uruguay) and MRC Unit for Lifelong Health and Ageing at UCL, said: “This is the first study to attempt to untangle the causal relationship between habitual daytime napping and cognitive and structural brain outcomes. “By looking at genes set at birth, Mendelian randomisation avoids confounding factors occurring throughout life that may influence associations between napping and health outcomes. “Our study points to a causal link between habitual napping and larger total brain volume.” Dr Garfield added: “I hope studies such as this one showing the health benefits of short naps can help to reduce any stigma that still exists around daytime napping.” Read More Dramatic rise in the number of women freezing their eggs Paramedics who found ‘poisoned’ couple dead in Mexico hotel room also fell ill Bruce Willis’ family honours him with first Father’s Day tributes since announcing his dementia diagnosis Richard Ford on Frank Bascombe, getting older and literary feuds: ‘At my age I can’t get into fistfights’ Families’ ‘disappointment’ as Croydon tram disaster driver cleared

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Zoe Sugg and Alfie Deyes have announced that they're expecting their second child. The 2010s YouTube power couple announced the news with a sweet video featuring their one-year-old daughter, Ottilie, while holding up a scan photo. Sugg even displayed her blossoming baby bump, while the toddler gave her belly a peck. The 33-year-old revealed she is in her second trimester, and is expecting a little girl in a lengthier YouTube video. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter

One bride wanted to make sure her wedding guests were lovin’ the special day. Stephanie Arielle, known for her wedding content on TikTok, recently posted about her decision to have McDonald’s cater her wedding for the low price of just over $200. “We had 75 guests total and we ordered 100 chicken McNuggets, 25 junior chickens [a grilled chicken burger], 25 cheeseburgers and 50 small fries,” she said in an interview with Newsweek. Text across the screen of her video explains that the McDonald’s was only a midnight snack and not the actual food for the ceremony. “If you want a midnight snack at your wedding but don’t wanna get your guests off the dance floor, you’re gonna wanna hear this tip,” she said in her TikTok. “The best way to keep your guests dancing all night long is to either pass your midnight snack or put the table right at the edge of the dance floor. We did this with McDonald’s and it worked amazing. Highly recommend.” Many people loved the idea and joked in the comments section about how they wanted to do something similar at their own wedding. Others, however, assumed the McDonald’s would be cold by the time it arrived and commented on how cold fast food never tastes good. “Never cold McDonald’s,” one viewer commented, with another sarcastically writing, “Yum cold McDonald’s.” @stephanie.arielle McDonalds as a midnight snack is always a great idea ??? #midnightsnack #mcdonaldswedding #weddingtips ♬ greedy - Tate McRae One commenter wanted to know how Arielle managed to get such a large order to her wedding venue. “Okay but seriously what were the logistics of this? Did you Uber Eats? Did someone go get them from your wedding party? I want to do this.” Arielle responded in a video explaining the planning process. “We started off by researching McDonalds’ that were close by to our venue because we wanted the food to arrive hot,” she began her TikTok. @stephanie.arielle Replying to @Eli #greenscreen #greenscreenvideo the logistics of our mcdonalds late night snack ??? #midnightsnack #mcdonaldswedding #weddingtips ♬ greedy - Tate McRae “We ended up finding one that was less than 10 minutes away, so we went in to speak to the manager about a month before our wedding. We told him exactly what we wanted.” This included making sure the food arrived at 11 pm. The manager responded by saying he would make sure to have enough staff that day and would deliver the food personally himself. He put the food in smaller packages than normal to make them easier to grab and go on the dance floor. The couple then confirmed with the fast food restaurant the week before the wedding and put a serving table right next to the dance floor. Since first being posted on 6 October, the TikTok has received over three million views. Many people commented on the follow-up video too, mentioning how impressed they were with both the idea itself and how nice the restaurant’s manager was. “I don’t drink but having McDonald’s fries while drunk sounds incredible,” one commenter wrote. “He did amazing! I hope you tipped him well,” another commenter pointed out. “When we were looking for a late night snack, we immediately thought of McDonald’s," Arielle said to Newsweek. “It’s our favorite guilty pleasure food and we know that everyone loves a burger or some nuggets once they’ve had a few drinks.” The Independent has reached out to Arielle for comment. Read More Bride and groom go viral for breaking wedding tradition - and their followers love it Groom expertly handles his bride’s beauty emergency on their wedding day Bride who lost sight as a teenager has wedding guests ‘live a moment in her shoes’ with blindfolds Bride and groom go viral for breaking wedding tradition Groom expertly handles his bride’s beauty emergency on their wedding day Restaurants are charging ‘vomit fee’ at bottomless brunch