How to Stop Worrying and Learn to Love Germs Again
Microbial concerns have shaped the last year and a half of our lives, thanks in part to one microbe: the virus that causes COVID-19. But billions of other bacteria, viruses and microbes that surround us have not yet ceased to exist. What do we really need to be afraid of? And how can we protect ourselves without overdoing it?
I read this article from “Today” about office germs with a little sadness “nature heals.” Remember when local news outlets had a habit of wiping down a category of items and declaring them dirtier than a toilet ? It looks like we are back.
We are always surrounded by germs, and that’s okay.
Have you ever been outdoors with children? Sooner or later, one of them will complain about an ant that crawls on it or next to it. If you are a parent, they will expect you to do something about it. And then you have to explain that we are on the street, and insects live on the street.
Likewise, there is no need to shock germs in your home or on surfaces that you touch frequently. This is where they live . (Everywhere.)
Bacteria and other microbes inhabit every corner of the earth. They live on our skin and in our bodies in miniature ecosystems that we call our “microbiome”. Some of them cause disease, but most are bystanders.
So what about all these bacteria on your desk, kitchen counter, or wherever? Most often we brought them there. They didn’t come in like the tiny invasion army from Microbe Central; it’s just germs that were already on our skin, and then we touched things and left some of them.
As microbiologist Mark O. Martin told us during his previous germ frenzy (this time about hand dryers in public toilets), “All your skin is covered in germs, but that doesn’t stop you holding hands.”
What you really need to do to avoid germs
Now that we have established that we are surrounded by mostly harmless microbes, let’s talk about what we can do to protect ourselves from those that can actually cause disease in us.
Be careful with raw meat and other food safety hazards.
Certain foods can be contaminated with harmful bacteria such as salmonella in raw chicken and eggs, E. coli in beef , etc. This is why it is so important to wash your hands after preparing these foods, and to wash or disinfect the utensils and surfaces they touched in the process. (Hot, soapy water is enough for most kitchen utensils, but if you’d rather use a disinfectant to clean your countertops, that’s okay too.)
Wash your hands often enough
In addition to washing your hands after touching raw meat, you should also wash your hands after touching trash, pets or pet-related items (such as their waste or food bowls), diapers, real dirt (you don’t know how many germs are in the mud.), and after using the toilet. The CDC has more guidelines in their hand washing guide here .
It’s also a good idea to wash your hands before eating to make sure anything you touch doesn’t get into your mouth.
Reasonably frequent hand washing will also prevent the nastier germs from getting on surfaces like your desk, since, as you remember, we mostly carry them there with our dirty hands.
Take precautions for people who are sick or likely to be sick
The problem with disease-causing germs is that we tend to get them from other sick people. If your child has diarrhea, dry the bathroom thoroughly. (This is a good time to use a suitable disinfectant such as bleach .)
Some of the things we’ve learned from COVID will come in handy here too. Wearing a mask in public can protect you from germs if you are sick; it can also help keep you from getting sick, even from things like colds and flu.
Cleaning the surface and using hand sanitizer has proven not to be particularly important in preventing the spread of COVID , but other illnesses such as colds, flu and gastrointestinal diseases among the most common are done through surface contact, so hand hygiene and regular cleaning (not disinfectant) high touch surfaces are a good habit to keep up with.