A loud expulsion of bad air and mist. A cloud of germs dissipates across the room. It’s another salvo of sickness against your immunity defences. And the attacks come from everywhere. We realize how vulnerable we are as individuals and as a society when people in public places indiscriminately discharge God knows what viri on whomever is unlucky enough to be in the vicinity.
Is this hyperbole, or will the paranoid obsessive compulsives who wipe down stairway banisters and doorknobs be the last ones standing after a global superflu? The jury is still out on this one. Some say we are rearing a generation of wimps, due to over-protectionist practices of doting parents and the widespread usage of antibacterial cleaners and antibiotic drugs. These sheltered people with sheltered immune systems are prevented from becoming battle-hardened, and therefore unnecessarily vulnerable to being conquered by invading pathogens. Even scarier is the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention warning that “bacteria have developed antibiotic resistance, which has become a global health crisis.” [source] How richly ironic that man’s high falootin’ technological advances against germs are actually making the germs stronger and deadlier!
So what are some positive measures can we use to keep ourselves, and the whole world, from getting super-sick? For starters, the CDC recommends thoroughly washing hands with soap and water for 20 seconds before and after preparing and eating food, using the bathroom, and of course after coughing or sneezing (article and full list here). Hand sanitizers on the *ahem* other hand, should be used in conjunct with hand washing, but not replace it. These disposible tissues can be “handy” before and after using public telephones, computer keyboards and, the mecca of infectious micro-organisms: grocery cart handles. According to a study from the University of Arizona, only playground equipment and public transit rails harbour more sweat, saliva and fecal matter. Just make sure the sanitizer’s embedded solution contains at least 60% alcohol, or it won’t remove the germs.
Other ways of minimizing the risk of succumbing to contagious disease is by including fresh fruits and/or vegetables with every meal, mitigating stress levels, and getting plenty of sleep.
But a final warning before you clutch your pillow at night, and your weary mind drifts off to a safer place: you are burying your face in a hot zone of fungal spores.
Good night. And good luck.
STORY HERE