Question:
Why are we so paranoid aboot germs?
1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Why are we so paranoid aboot germs?
Eighteen answers:
2009-03-28 11:28:09 UTC
Germs like sex sells eh!



Have you noticed all those ads for cleaning products especially regarding kids ?

Many scientists argue that too clean an environment does not allow the immune system to develop properly and then when those kids later enter kindergarten and are in contact with others ( and all kind of stuff) tend to fall sick much more easily.



Heck you would think that all those doctors, nurses working in hospitals would fall sick constantly with what they have to deal and encounter daily. But their immune system has become stronger than the rest of us.



I do not know if you watched an episode of "the doctors" recently. Germs are just everywhere !!! money, credit cards, handbags ( apparently you should get some kind of hook to hang it and not touch the floor, patients in hospitals should not allow visitors to seat on their beds) clothing, phones, door handles.........etc. The list is endless. Everything carries all kinds of nasty stuff : salmonella, traces of human feces and so on.



Well you might as well live in a bubble and never set foot outside, never touch anything, never shake hands - or anything else ! - with another human being.



I wonder why there are still homo sapiens on this planet !



The media instill fears.....everything you do is a danger to you ! Microwaving will give you cancer, eating this and that will do the same, do not touch transfat, drinking sodas will rot your teeth, cell phones damage your brains and blah blah blah..



Being hygienic is good but obsessively so....?? You have more chances of being hit by a car I would say.........why aren't cars banned by the way ? ( and toxic fumes).

Wont go into the subject of smoking lol :-)



Nor carcenoma of the skin induced by the sun and tanning salons for us pasty faces !!!!!



In particular circumstances, yes, strong hygiene is a must : SARS for ex, going to foreign countries where sanitation is not exactly on the top of the list ,outbreaks of avian flu and other "nasties"..
?
2009-03-28 11:32:32 UTC
I just answered a question about this, by coincidence. Urine comes out of the body totally sterile, so it's got less germs than tap water. And further, unless the guy is sloppy and whizzes on his fingers, washing his hands does nothing special. I presume he showers, so no fungus is growing on his penis? Of course, someone should wash hands a few times a day anyway, and some people think urinating is a good reminder. But if someone washes dishes, washes after defecating, washing the face, takes a shower, that is enough for usual circumstances.



BTW, washing with soap and water is better than hand sanitizers. Soap and water loosens the oil that holds colonies of bacteria on the skin. Washing makes them fall OFF the skin completely. Alcohol sanitizers just kill most of them, as you point out, leaving their germ corpses all over your skin !-) LOL



Great sources of germs are doorknobs, paper currency, telephones (borrow anyones cellphone lately?) ash trays, lighters, etc. Does anyone wash hands after touching these things?
?
2009-03-28 09:11:00 UTC
Germs are nasty little critters that will hurt us. Nasty people who don't wash after bathroom call should be shot on sight.
2009-03-28 09:08:44 UTC
"aboot", eh?
MWAP ®
2009-03-29 06:55:03 UTC
I work in hospitals all over the US, Canada, and Caribbean. I don't want to be the one that mixes 2 or 3 old diseases and makes something 100 times worse than AIDS.
?
2009-03-28 13:13:50 UTC
I am thinking the phone as it is closer to the mouth and airborne germs.

I seen a recent article that stated that 92 percent of the people questioned answered they wash their hands after using the restroom. However the study found that only 90 percent of women and an amazing 75 percent of men actually washed their hands.

I find that i have never seen a person wipe the phone down after using it.

However i am one that does wash my hands but have never become so paranoid of germs to question the phone. However i have never lived around an airborne disease that could kill me either.
2009-03-28 10:14:50 UTC
"Aboot"...reminds me of my Scottish roomate in college. When he'd had a few, his accent would come back and ye could nae understand a bloooooody word.

I'm originally from a small town in Ohio, and I don't freak out about a little bit of dirt, but we had this guy at work who would run a little "soup kitchen" for emplyoees, to make extra cash, but he would store leftovers in his little fridge for months, and leave cooked food out in the open overnight. He'd just add lots of Tabasco to disguise the taste of rot.
2009-03-28 09:12:42 UTC
I think we are sooooooooo paranoid 'bout germs is cuz they can cause viruses, infections, diseases etc...........also, probably the hands of someone's who's just pizzzed and not washed their hands..........SO gross........
BigRick the Beer Drinker
2009-03-28 09:09:36 UTC
We are paranoid because we do not want to get sick. I'm going with the hands. That is sick.
Saint Christopher Walken
2009-03-28 12:19:59 UTC
I don't understand the paranoia over germs either.

In fact, there is substantive evidence to support claims that our modern societies are becoming too hygienic for their own good.



Take anti-bacterial soaps, for example...

The germs killed by washing your hands with anti-bacterial soap is only marginally better than doing so with regular hand soap. Yet, the germicidal reagents used in antibacterial soaps (the most common being 'Triclosan') is strongly suspected in increasing the drug-resistance of certain bacteria, - turning them into 'super bugs'; Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (aka: 'The Flesh-Eating Bacteria') is just one such bug.

http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/methicillin-resistant-staphylococcus-aureus-mrsa-overview

http://dyingtolookgood.com/antibacterialsoap.html



In trying to prevent every 'bug' from entering our body through hyper-hygienic practices our immune systems begin to lack the constant stimulation it needs to effort a response when your body really needs it.

http://healthlink.mcw.edu/article/1031002421.html



In short, use regular soaps or alcoholic gels to sanitize your hands and, unless it's flu season and/or you have kids (kids are notorious germ carriers), don't worry so much about the germ-count on your doorknobs and phones.

-
Tracey
2016-04-08 11:49:58 UTC
I am far from what might ever be even close to something that resembles a germ-a-phobe. There are days when my house is not for the faint of heart. I like things tidy, but I don't freak out when they're not. This past winter I found it very amusing to see that every single one of the many of my Mom's brothers and sisters who is a germ-a-phobe got pretty substantially sick... while I wasn't afflicted by even a cold. There have been studies done that actually show children who are kept "sanitary" as toddlers grow up with weaker immune systems and lack some important good bacteria in their digestive systems later in life. I know a few people who suffer from sever digestive problems as adults as a result of this. I've never had a flu shot, and never will. I'm not sure anything could keep me from licking the cake beaters or cookie bowl. :)
remoserjr107
2009-03-28 14:58:09 UTC
Happily, I don't have to deal with the Public (and the Germs) as much as I used to.....!!



The only germs on My Phone would be from me....!!
.
2009-03-28 09:10:23 UTC
im not paranoid aboot germs. in fact, i just took a piss meself and didnt use soap. how's that for unsanitary?
Noodles [{Trashy but Classy}]
2009-03-28 09:09:35 UTC
Im not paranoid at all. I bet I deal with alot of them on a day to day basis..
2009-03-28 09:10:01 UTC
You wannabe CANADIAN.. Go back to America!...jk



Yeah, I have a good immune system and I clean things regularly, so i'm not worried!
dk
2009-03-28 09:09:17 UTC
itis bad
2009-03-28 09:10:26 UTC
"aboot"?
lindsey
2009-03-28 09:09:40 UTC
idk


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