Stomach bug season is here and boy has it been intense.

Our household is on its second of the winter season and I’ve recently discovered it might well be because of a simple bathroom mistake.

I’ve been encouraging plenty of hand-washing and cleaning surfaces relentlessly with disinfectant. But one thing I haven’t done is changed our toothbrushes post-infection.

And according to paediatrician Dr Niamh Lynch, this is likely where I’ve been going wrong.

In a reel shared on Instagram, the expert warned people to keep their toothbrushes separate if there is a stomach bug circulating in the home.

She explained: “If you’ve had gastroenteritis in your house, you can wash your hands 573 times a day – but if your toothbrushes are still like this [she showed a photo of toothbrushes sat together in a cup] then you’re wasting your time...”

This, she said, is “because the germs are just transferring from one toothbrush to the other”.

She........

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