Concern about germs has shaped everyone’s life for the last year and a half, especially one germ: the virus that causes COVID-19. But the billions of other bacteria, viruses, and other microbes that surround us have not ceased to exist. What do we really have to be afraid of? And how can we protect ourselves without overdoing it?
I read this article from Today about office germs “Nature heals” with a little sadness. Remember when a regular part of the news cycle there were local news teams wiping and declaring a category of objects dirtier than a toilet? It looks like we’re back.
We are always surrounded by microbes and that is normal
Have you ever been outside with children? Sooner or later one of them will complain that an ant is crawling on or near them. If you are the parent, they expect you to do something about it. And then you have to explain that we are outside and that bugs live outside.
Likewise, you don’t need to be shocked if there are microbes in your home or on the surfaces you touch frequently. Here they live.
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 of them are bystanders.
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What about all of these bacteria on your desk or your kitchen counter or whatever? Most of the time we took them there. You didn’t invade Microbe Central like a tiny invading army; it’s just the germs that were already on our skin and then we touched things and left some of them behind.
As a microbiologist, Mark O. Martin told us during a previous germ frenzy (this one about hand dryers in public toilets), “You have microbes all over your skin, but that doesn’t stop you from holding hands.”
What is actually worth it
Now that we have established that we are surrounded by largely harmless microbes, let’s talk about what we can do to protect ourselves from those who might actually make us sick.
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, and so on. For this reason, it is important to wash your hands after preparing these foods and to wash or disinfect the utensils and surfaces that have come into contact with these foods. (Hot, soapy water is good enough for most kitchen appliances, but if you’d prefer to use a disinfectant on your countertops, that’s fine, too.)
Wash your hands fairly often
Aside from washing your hands after handling raw meat, you should also wash them after handling trash, pets or pet-related items (such as their trash or food bowls), diapers, actual dirt (you have no idea how many microbes are in the dirt) ) and after using the toilet. The CDC has further guidelines in their hand washing instructions here.
It’s also a good idea to wash your hands before you eat to make sure what you’ve touched doesn’t get into your mouth.
Appropriately frequent hand washing also keeps the nastier microbes off surfaces like your desk, as, as you will remember, most of the time we got them there with our own dirty hands.
Take precautions around people who are sick or who may be sick
The thing about germs that make people sick is that we get them from other sick people. If your child has diarrhea, be careful about cleaning the bathroom. (This is a good time to use an appropriate disinfectant like bleach).
Some of the things we learned from COVID will come in handy here too. Wearing a mask in public can help keep your germs away from others when you are sick. It can also help keep you from getting sick, even with colds and flu.
Surface cleaning and the use of hand sanitizer have been found may not be particularly important in preventing the spread of COVID, but also other diseases such as colds, flu and diarrheal diseases spread through surface contact.
