MICRO-ORGANISMS THAT CAUSE DISEASE
BARRIERS TO ENTRY: The skin serves as a tremendous protection against invasion by disease-causing organisms. There is nothing that can get through unbroken skin. So why do we have those paper toilet seat covers? There is nothing you can catch from a toilet seat as long as you don’t have an open wound on your buttocks. Mucous membranes are also a protective barrier, but some organisms thrive on the moisture and can invade those sites.
TRANSMISSION
DIRECT CONTACT: is when you must come in contact with the body fluids or lesions of an infected person. An example is catching herpes from kissing someone with a cold sore.
AIRBORNE transmission is when the organism is suspended in the air and carried by moisture away from the host. An example is catching a cold after someone with a cold sneezed in the same room before you walked in.It takes 3 days to incubate a cold virus.
VEHICLE transmission is when the organism falls onto an inanimate object and lives there until picked up by another host. An example is a cold virus that you catch from using a public telephone. You can also get Salmonella food poisoning from getting raw chicken juices on a kitchen counter. If you don’t clean it up and it gets in your mouth, you can get really sick. Cooking thoroughly kills bacteria from meat products.
VECTOR transmission is an animal that carries the disease from one host to another. An example is getting malaria from a mosquito.
A PATHOGEN is an organism that causes disease. An OPPORTUNISTIC PATHOGEN only causes disease when they have an opportunity. We have many types of bacteria on our body that don’t cause disease as long as they stay where they belong.
An example is the intestinal bacteria that help us digest our food. If they get from the colon to an area of broken skin, they will cause a serious infection. That’s why it is so important to wash your hands after going to the bathroom. If you touch a contaminated door handle when you leave the bathroom, everywhere you touch in the outside world gets contaminated. Then everyone who touches what you touch is also contaminated. Eventually, someone will then touch their eye or mouth and the organism can get in.
Another opportunistic type of bacteria is called staphylococcus, or “staph” for short. They normally are found all over the outside of our skin, but they usually cannot get in. Every time you get even a small paper cut, you should wash it with soap and water and put TRIPLE ANTIBIOTIC OINTMENT on it and a Band-Aid (USE PROPER TECNIQUE)and it will heal in three days instead of ten days. This is because the ointment kills staph and other common skin organisms. Neosporin ointment kills only one type of bacteria, but Triple antibiotic has Neosporin plus two other types of antibiotics. Proper way to put ointment on bandaid.
One of the major reservoirs that the staph organisms hide out is in the nose. That’s why your mother always told you not to pick you nose! Everything you touch after that is spreading staph germs. Not washing hands is the major cause of food poisoning. Food poisoning such as Salmonella is frequently caused from having raw chicken juices left on the kitchen counter. When the bacteria from the juices get into other food, you get food poisoning. Also, cutting boards in the kitchen should be made of a material that does not have any nooks and crannies in it, or bacteria will lodge there.
What’s the worst place in the house for germs? The kitchen sponge. Another bad place is a toothbrush. They should be discarded every three months, and stored away from a 6’ radius of the toilet (splash zone). Put them in a cabinet or drawer but let them dry out.
Regarding hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), that is not a germ killer at all. When it comes in contact with blood products, the H2O2 splits its bond and the oxygen comes off and leaves water behind. The oxygen bubble rises up and can mechanically cleanse the wound from small debris particles. It is good to use after a gravel burn or when there is dirt in the wound. Soak the wound first so the tissues swell and force out some of the dirt. Then pour on some hydrogen peroxide, pat it dry, put on some antibiotic ointment and a Band-Aid. Don’t use iodine or mercurochrome, because it causes scar tissue.
Adults with runny noses leave cold viruses on about 35 percent of objects they touch, such as telephones, door handles and television controls. An hour after someone leaves a virus-infected droplet on a surface, it can be picked up 60 percent of the time. And 24 hours later, 33 percent chance of picking it up. You have to get the virus on your fingertip and then you stick it in your own nose and your own eye. Common sites for cold viruses are the light switch, a pen, faucet handles, the door handle, the TV remote and the telephone.
Is a dog’s mouth cleaner than a human’s? Actually, dogs have lots of bacteria in their mouth, but they are species-specific, so they can’t live on us. It’s much worse to kiss another human than an animal.
Another thing that people tend to do wrong is to put baking soda in their shoes or socks to absorb moisture. They figure it’s good for the refrigerator; it should be good for a shoe. But what do you think the problem is with this? Where there is a dark, warm, moist environment, there will be bacteria. Baking soda is a food, so putting it on a fungus infection or a place where bacteria live is just feeding them! Use baby powder instead; that’s not a food product.
Other Micro Concerns
Leaving mayonnaise in the sun for four hours
Plastic vs wood cutting boards
Cutting raw chicken and leaving the juice
Proper way to clean kitchen counters
Use the dishwasher to sterilize things
Household products that have toxic fumes
Anti-freeze tastes like sugar water, but will kill: keep away from children
Household Hazards for children
Can you catch diseases from a toilet seat?