Once the cold and flu season has officially started, moms across the country are arming themselves for their annual fight against germs in the home.

It’s a tough battle. School-aged children and those attending day care centers can be exposed to hundreds of cold and flu viruses from schoolmates and teachers. And they bring many of those germs right back home to you. Experts say viruses and bacteria can survive for up to 2 hours on the surface of countertops, tables, refrigerator door handles, light switches and door knobs around your house. All can be incubators for germ transmission.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), each year children across the country lose nearly 22 million school days because of the common cold. Now is the perfect time to review the CDC’s “Ounce of Prevention” tips aimed at making homes safer and healthier.

It may be impossible to kill all the germs in your home, but there are steps you can take to protect your family from catching and spreading colds and the flu. The best defense against the spread of bacteria and viruses in the home is regular hand washing with soap and warm water or an alcohol-based liquid hand sanitizer.

When should you and your children wash their hands? The CDC advises hand washing:

• Before eating
• Before, during and after handling and preparing food
• After contact with blood or body fluids (such as vomit, saliva, nasal secretions, urine or feces)
• After changing a diaper
• After using the bathroom
• After handling animals, their toys, leashes or wastes
• After touching something that could be contaminated (such as trash cans, cleaning cloths, drains or soil)
• Before dressing a wound, giving medicine or inserting contact lenses
• More often when someone in the home is ill
• Whenever the hands look dirty