Donna L Brogan.com

Well IS this a scary thought?  You bet it is.  I would like to let you know just how you can protect yourself from as many germs as possible, by letting you in on things you might not have even thought about.  Are you ready?

Almost every medical expert in the world will tell you that germs are everywhere, whether you like it or not.  By just walking across the room, you are surrounded by airborne organisms.  Sit in a chair and when you get up you will be covered with bacteria.  No matter how clean you think you are or your home is, you will never be able to be totally free of germs.

Humans are the worst types of offenders.  Not that people should be overly concerned about becoming ill.  According to Phillip Tierno, Director of Clinical Microbiology and Immunology at NYU, only about 1-2% of the 60,000 types of germs people may come in contact with on a daily basis are a potential danger to anyone with a normal immunity.  That works well for us, because just about any surface contains some of these microscopic organisms. 

Everyone can take certain precautions such as using disinfectants, hand washing and especially keeping your hands away from the face.  These things should be sufficient in keeping a person free of illness and viruses.  The optimal goal is to practice good personal, household and food hygiene.  But the most important thing is hand washing.  By doing this simple task before touching your face or eating or drinking, you will cut your chances of catching an illness to almost not at all.

Still the more microbes on a particular object, the higher the chance of a person coming into contact with a potentially harmful germ.  If you are curious about how massive the microorganism population is in some places, check out the following:

 Telephones – both landlines and cell phones –

These germs are not just from your hands but also your mouth (saliva), which is why the mouthpiece is often dirtier than the handle.  This is something that people do not often think of cleaning.

 Purses and Wallets

Women are always setting their purses on the ground, or on the floor, especially bathroom floors, so their purses pickup bacteria from wherever they are placed.  These places are not ideally cleaned all of the time.

Wallets, meanwhile, pick up bacteria from what is put into them.  Paper currency is passed from germ-filled hands to germ-filled hands.  It picks up more germs and possible viruses and even traces of illegal drugs.  That is not just a story, several studies have confirmed that a majority of U.S. currency contains trace amounts of cocaine.  And all of that ends up in your wallet.

Because men keep their wallets in their back pocket, close to their body, it is an ideal place for bacteria to breed.  Be sure to wash your hands after using your wallet.

Coins are not as bad because metals, especially nickel, often kill many kinds of bacteria.

 Car Seats for Children, Your Trunk and Carpooling

“Children are little bags of germs and if you carry them around, they have more potential pathogens”.  Or put another way “If you’re a soccer mom, you are essentially driving a germ-mobile”.

The more people you have in the vehicle allows for more chance of sneezing, coughing and spilling food, all places of which bacteria grows. So it is recommended that you use disinfecting wipes in the car.  Be sure to wipe off dashboards, door handles and car seats.

The trunk of your car is a place we often overlook as a breeding ground for microorganisms.  According to a study, the worst and nastiest place for bacterial refugees was the carpet in the trunk.  Scientists found 300-400 bacteria per square inch. What the study noted was the different activities people use their cars for such as  dumping trash one day and carrying groceries the next.  Wiping surfaces and mats, vacuuming up crumbs and debris, all can be helpful in keeping germs at bay.  If your pet rides with you, you must be even more vigilant.

 Kitchen Cutting Board

The study showed that there are 200 times more fecal bacteria on a cutting board than on a toilet seat.  The reason is because people rinse off their cutting boards instead of thoroughly washing them.  A suggestion is to prepare a quart of water with a little bleach and then wipe down all food preparation surfaces between each different preparation.

 The Television Remote

The next time you set down for a late night movie at home, you might not want to put your hand into the popcorn bowl or hor-deurve tray if you have handled the remote.

This is an item which is almost never disinfected.  No wonder it is considered to be the dirtiest object in a hotel room.

It becomes even worse if there is sickness in the home because a person who has a cold or the flu tend to jump into bed with the remote, thus contaminating it.

 Germy Doctors Plaguing Your Hospital?

Going to a hospital when you are hurt or sick is bad enough.  The last thing you need to worry about is what kinds of germs your doctor or nurse could be carrying around.

Hospitals have many standards and practices put in place to protect hospital staff and patients from germs.  But with so many variables such as clothing, equipment, how ill the patient is, and visitors, microbes have the potential to reverse the hard work of the doctors and nurses.

As popular as scrubs are for hospital staff, these pieces of clothing are seen outside the hospital walls almost as much as they are seen inside.  There are no studies or data on the cleanliness of hospital uniforms worn, which makes it difficult to determine the risks they pose.  Some hospitals are taking bold steps to improve their commitment to clean work clothing.

About 1.7 million infections and 99,000 deaths each year are the result of infection-causing germs spread in U.S. Hospitals, according to the CDC.  In general, hospitals do their best to keep staff well trained and updated in hospital procedures regarding cleanliness and infection risk reduction.

Virulent diseases and cancers, in which the immune system is weak and white blood cell count is low, are especially susceptible.  Visitors should take more care than usual with their cleanliness.  Washing hands before and after seeing a patient and using gel hand sanitizers is a standard practice of every hospital are the best way to minimize infections.

A University of North Carolina 2005 study testing different hand sanitizing methods showed that a 10- second scrub with soap and water removed 90% of the bacteria on hands and alcohol-based gels removed about 50% of bacteria.

But the nature of a hospital is to harbor germs and sometimes illnesses are impossible to avoid. It is also not easy to keep work contaminants from spreading to other areas.

Stay tuned and I will give you more examples and ways to keep those nasty germs away.  See you in my next post.  Would you please leave a comment with your ideas on other things that may help.  Sure would enjoy hearing your ideas.