The invisible world may be just as real and dangerous as the visible one. Especially if it is a world of germs and disease-causing bacteria that you can catch if you touch seemingly innocuous subjects.
What is the danger
Statistics indicate that 95% people wash their hands for 6 seconds. Not more. However, to achieve the desired result – wash away the dirt and harmful micro-organisms – you should give your hands a thorough 15-second wash.
It is also very useful to know when, or before what you should wash your hands especially carefully. Let’s start with ourselves.
The mucous membranes of our eyes and nose are unprotected. Therefore, they are easily infected. It is especially common in the season of SARS and other epidemics.
So, if you can’t wait to blow your nose or rub your eyes, wash your hands more thoroughly than usual. Use a rule: wash seven times, touch one time.
But even if you do not have a habit of getting into your nose, you still shouldn’t touch everything you see. Since childhood, I have been taught to wash my hands after using the toilet, touching money and travelling in public transport. However, these turned out to be not the only dangerous places.
The most common hazards are below:
Fuel nozzle
If you drive, you occasionally encounter it. Remember, when touching the fuel nozzle, you can get infected with a disease like methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, resistant to any antibiotics. Therefore, do not touch the objects and surfaces in public places without the need to do so.
Of course, there places and things that do not seem public, but in fact, they are no less dangerous.
81% of the surfaces in a hotel suite
Yes, that is how much area in a hotel suite is infected with E. coli. Do not rely on the number of stars at a hotel – you cannot attach an supervisor with a microscope to check the quality of each maid’s work.
Wiping the items in the room is not your concern, but your concern is to preserve your health and well-being. So it is better to wipe everything you are going to touch with antibacterial wipes or use a special antibacterial spray. Pay special attention to the switches, the telephone, remote control and other items of frequent use.
Office kitchen surfaces
Some offices have rooms serving as kitchens. Here, employees gather to chat, drink tea, warm and eat their lunch. The remains of the lunch are decomposed and become a breeding ground for germs and disease-causing bacteria.
The irony: you wash your hands in order to neutralize harmful microorganisms and touch the taps that are 75% swarming with them. Therefore, wash your hands in other places or use disinfectant gels.
Gadgets
Smartphone, tablet PC, and computer keyboards are a threat to your health, even if you are used to washing your hands thoroughly. On average, a smartphone shares 600 staph bacteria with you for one brief use. In fact, the surface of your device contains 18 times more pathogens than a toilet flush button.
The advice is simple: do not bring the devices with you when you go to the toilet, wipe them from time to time with special screen and keyboard cleaning products.
How to live now?!
I can imagine what feeling arises at the end of this article. Someone has run to wash their hands several times, and someone is indignant, pointing out that their ancestors lived under one roof with all their animals.
Therefore, I consider it necessary to add the following things:
- Not every contact with the above objects and surfaces leads to infection.
- Not every poor health condition is associated with similar contact.
However, if you do not want to play Russian roulette with your health, or guess where the disease came from, just do not forget about the existence of hazardous surfaces, keep your house clean and practise proper personal hygiene. Nothing complicated.
