vixen101485 wrote:Chatting away in a PM about this made me wonder how many ppl are paranoid about getting a speck of dirt.
Evil Board X :mad: has a discussion going on this. A surprisingly lot of folks lysol down their whole hotel rooms before allowing their family to enter or touch anything. One woman will not allow her SO to touch her if he as much comes in any contact with the remote without washing his hands first.
So to what extreme are you germaphobic? I have no issues with sitting on a bench that others have sat on without wiping it down with Clorox wipes. We rarely get sick around here and when we do it goes away quicker then others who get the same illness. Positive thinking helps too I think.
Actually being exposed to germs makes you less susceptible to them, I believe. When I was a child, we ran around and touched everything, ate dirt,

did all the kid things and colds and flu were not as rampant as they are now with all the kids being kept away from all the other kids with germys. Kids are going to get germs and they are gonna have colds and the like, but they build resistance by being exposed to the viruses, the body then produces a large amount of immunity to these bugs. That being said, bacteria are whole different animals. (punny). You can pick up some pretty nasty bacteria from city busses and stair railings by the subway and the like. :barf: TB is making a comeback, here in Colorado we have had at least 5 cases in the past several months and a few of those people have died. A couple of them were college students at two different campuses here in Colorado. I am not speaking of the infamous TB patient that was brought to Nat'l Jewish. I know 5 cases does not sound like a lot, but for a disease that was nearly eradicated in the western world, it is a big deal. How are people getting it and where? And it it is a HIGHLY transmissable disease.
Now, before you think I am Mrs. Monk or something, I am careful to some degree. We carry wet ones with us to wash our hands after we touch certain surfaces and we use a paper towel to grab the inside door handle of a bathroom, (how many people do NOT wash their hands after going and then touch that doorknob or handle?)

But we do not spray everything down with lysol and we are not as OCD as some are. People are gonna pick up germs. I always catch a cold after a plane flight or a trip to a Theme Park or mall or concert. I don't get out much due to a disability and so I am not being bombarded with the typical viruses going around and therefore more susceptible to them! And because doctors have overprescribed antibiotics, we have made ourselves more susceptible to nastier bugs that cannot be treated with drugs. I do not like being sick, but I take it as part of enjoying my trips to places with hundreds of thousands of people. We do the usual pre-treatments like Airborne and other prophylactic measures (not THAT kind!), but still I catch a cold. Part of getting old I guess. My parents, in their 80's ALWAYS catch some bug or other from my nieces who are all under 10! Never fails.
But wiping everything down ain't gonna solve the problem, people BREATHE on you all day at the Parks! And sneeze and cough! Kids with runny noses wipe it on the railings and other places, I know, GROSS! :sick: , but it happens, just keep that in mind and carry a little packet of Wet Ones with ya!
We especially use them after we have pushed around a cart at Walmart.
An interesting aside: In my microbiology classes we had an assignment to go swab something out in public, then to roll the swab on a petri dish and watch what grew over the next 3 days. WOW!

I swabbed a handle of a cart at Walmart, it grew strep and staph and some other things. Some of the bacteria that grew in the kitchen sink swabs were the worst! LOL! It was fascinating and why I chose to study microbiology and animal diseases.
A little staph on the skin is normal, but it is when it multiplies too fast you get problems. Everyone has e Coli in their gut, but it is when it grows too fast you get problems, and usually that is due to exposure to a clinically potent version of that particular germ.
Class dismissed. Just use common sense and stay healthy... :)
Susi