How to prevent from germs

Where can you find germs and parasites? You cannot see, hear or feel them but these microorganisms can infect your body very easily.

They are everywhere in the air we breathe and in the water we drink. These organisms cling to every surface on earth. You want believe, even the vehicle steering wheel, the gear-shifting lever house, hand dryers contain enough germs to infect a person. Normally, disease-causing microorganisms flourish more in damp surface. Kitchen sponges are the best breeding grounds for the germs. Study has found that more than one billion germs can grow in a damp sponge.

Amongst the many varieties of the germs very, few are dangerous and can make one ill quickly. Normally when disease-causing microbes enter our body, our defence mechanism alerts and defends most of them. However, if some virulent germs attack us or if the numbers out number, then they can over power our body defences and we fall sick. Some of the common germ havens listed below.

Children

Children are the quickest source of germs. This is mainly because they touch every place unknowingly and often some part of their body is damp which further multiply. Children, who go to crèches, play schools or schools every day exposed to many other youngsters often share his or her germs.

On the positive side, children exposed to lots of other kids and their germs can develop a very strong immune system. This helps them protect from any germ attack.  

While encountering some microbes that may be good to children, it does create some illness also. Besides colds, some of the infections most commonly transmitted from child to child include diarrhoea and impetigo a bacterial skin infection.

Prevention: Rather than preventing the child from going out and exposing them to germ attack, it is better disinfect periodically the surroundings, toys etc.

Office coffee cups   

Microbiologists have found that most coffee cups mostly infected with diarrhoea causing microbes called Escherichia coli. These germs transmitted from the dirty sponges used to wash them.

Prevention: Protect yourself by having your own cup or mug, and washing it thoroughly with sap and hot water after each use. Else, use a disposable paper cup.

Public phones  

You pay for the phone, but in turn get free cold or flu. The receiver handle, mouthpiece and buttons of any well-used public phones are loaded with influenza and cold viruses.

Prevention: Handle the receiver with a handkerchief or preferably a disposable tissue. Keep the mouthpiece at a fair distance from the mouth.

Public Toilets

All public toilets are intense breeding ground of germs. Studies have found that toilets that appeared very clean and tidy were actually dense with bacteria. As always, in high traffic areas, such as airports, bus terminals and train terminals are the highly dangerous with the maximum percentage of bacteria. Hand basins harboured more bacteria than the toilets as per the study reports.

Prevention: Choose the toilet closest to the door; it is usually the least used and therefore the cleanest. Next, scrub your hands vigorously with water, soap, and hold your hands under flowing water. Drying need done with your own towel and not the one hanged inside the bathroom. Similarly, drying avoided under the hand dryers. This appears very soothing but equally risky because bacteria thrive most inside the nozzle.