Parents fall ill twice as much as anyone else, new research has revealed.
Bugs picked up at nursery and in the playground mean that those with young children suffer from more colds and viruses than those without and the average parent gets a cold an additional four times a year compared to someone without children.
A third of parents say that they end up taking more time off sick now than before they had kids, with mums more likely to get sick than dads.
It also emerged that mums are also more likely to have to take time off work as a result with the average mum taking three sick days a year as well as 3 days off to take care of a poorly child.
As a result people without children are more likely to get cross about their colleagues taking time off sick as well as blaming working parents for bringing germs and sickness in to the workplace.
The survey of 5,000 working Brits was commissioned by Aerte.com to announce the launch of the World’s first consumer air disinfection unit, ‘Klean’, which works by actively killing all airborne germs.
Parents worry more about catching illnesses from other people compared to adults without children and are also much more likely to get annoyed if colleagues come to work when they are ill.
More than half of parents admit to actively trying to avoid colleagues who come to work with a cold or flu symptoms as they worry about getting sick and passing it on to their children and families.
Javier Segura, CEO at Aerte.com said: “Parents clearly have a greater risk of cross-infection and are more likely to catch common colds and flu - yet equally they worry more about bringing germs home with them from the office and passing it onto their children.
“As we enter flu season and with another record year predicted by healthcare experts, it imperative that those at risk have adequate protection from sources of cross-infection - as invariably the flu and cold viruses are spread via the air ”
Public transport is also something that worries parents more with nearly twice as many mums and dads so worried about germs and catching something when they get on buses, trains and aeroplanes they actively try and avoid getting around that way during flu season.
But despite parents getting sick twice as often after having children parents are likely to blame their colleagues or other people’s children if they do feel unwell.
Mums take a greater responsibility for their child’s health, with two thirds of women having taken time off work to take care of sick children compared to just 44 per cent of dads.
The research showed that more than half of Brits complain they end up picking up the slack for colleagues who call in sick and nearly a quarter say of employees say that they think that colleagues have got annoyed with them for calling in sick.
Javier Segura, added: “When trying to clean your house, it is so easy to forget the air - despite the fact we breathe it in over 20,000 times a day - as people don’t fear what they can’t see. However, to ensure your safety, it is the air itself that needs deep cleaning. Using the Klean unit provides continuous protection, acting like a detergent for the air, and killing all harmful germs and spores - providing you with peace of mind knowing your family is protected 24 hours day, 7 days a week”
Most Brits agree that mums deal with catching a cold much better than dads do with a fifth of men admitting they have claimed they have had flu when they just had a bit of a cold.
