Germs, germs, and more germs!

With Odelia in her first two months of life, her immune system is still weak.  Not long ago, many of our small group got struck by a stomach virus, so there’s reason to be cautious about where I bring Odelia and what she gets exposed to, at least until she reaches her second month, when she’ll be getting at least 4 immunization shots.  I avoid bringing Odelia to social function where lots of people carrying germs are roaming about.  I wash my hands almost all the time.  I avoid public bathroom handles, where people who don’t wash their hands after doing their thing deposit their germs.

I thought I was cautious, but today I read this article on MSNBC about places that you don’t think of where you can get germs.  In summary:

1. Vacuum Cleaners – 50 percent of the vacuum brushes they tested contained fecal bacteria, including 13 percent with E. coli, and all were packing mold. 

Hmm, time to give my iRobot a cleaning!

2. Your weight-lifting gloves – A 2004 Japanese study found that staph bacteria bind strongly to polyester, which is used in many gloves.

Haven’t lifted weights other than Odelia for a while, so I’m ok here.

3. The grocery cart – The handles of almost two-thirds of shopping carts tested in a 2007 University of Arizona study were contaminated with fecal bacteria. The carts had even more of these bacteria than the average public bathroom has.

I definitely didn’t think about this one, as we just took Odelia to Fred Meyer, with me holding Odelia in one hand and the shopping cart in the other.

4. Gym equipment – A 2006 study in the Clinical Journal of Sports Medicine found rhinoviruses (instigators of the common cold) on 63 percent of the gym equipment at the fitness centers they tested.

I get all my workout through holding and calming Odelia, so I’m ok here.

5. The restaurant menu –  recent study in the Journal of Medical Virology reports that cold and flu viruses can survive for 18 hours on hard surfaces.

Haven’t been to a restaurant for a while either, so we’re okay for now.  Definitely something to watch out for when Karen and I have a life again.

6. The flight attendant – Flight attendants are exposed to dozens of sniffling and coughing passengers and the surfaces they touch.

Don’t think Karen and I will be flying for a while.

7. Your bed – More than 84 percent of beds in U.S. homes host dust mites. These microscopic critters live in your sheets and feed on your dead skin, and their fecal matter and corpses contribute to asthma and allergies.

This explains why I never make the bed–because of fear of allergies…  Yeah… That’s it.  Time to make that case with Karen.

8. The lemon wedge in your drink – In a 2007 study from the Journal of Environmental Health, nearly 70 percent of the lemon wedges smashed onto restaurant glasses contained disease-causing microbes, including E. coli and other fecal bacteria.

No trips to restaurants, no worries.

9. Your contact-lens case – In a 2007 Chinese study, 34 percent of contact-lens cases tested were found to be crawling with germs like Serratia and Staphylococcus aureus. These microorganisms can cause keratitis, an inflammatory eye disease that can damage the cornea and lead to blindness. 

Time to chuck that lens case I’ve been using since 1995…

10. Your shower curtain – The soap scum hanging out on your curtain is more than just unsightly. A study in Applied and Environmental Microbiology found that vinyl shower curtains are microbe meccas, breeding potential pathogens, such as infection-causing Sphingomonas and Methylobacterium. Plus, the force of the shower spray will make germs take flight. 

And I thought that making the shower glass window look fogged just changes style of the window.  TIme to bust out Mr. Clean’s Magic Eraser.

Looks like I will need to make a few adjustments in my life…  just so that little Lia can stay safe and sound!