Ever wonder how long germs lived??

[LindaNY]

Use those gels and antibacterial wipes when you are out in public. Cart handles, door handles and public restrooms are full of those critters.

www.popsci.com/popsci/medicine/a931c4522fa84010vgnvcm1000004eecbccdrcrd.html



The answer is probably not what you want to hear: Microbes can live on household surfaces for hundreds of years. The good news, however, is that most don't. Some well-known viruses, like HIV, live only a few seconds.

Microbes, of course, are everywhere. Each square centimeter of skin alone harbors about 100,000 bacteria. And a single sneeze can spray droplets infested with bacteria and viruses as far as 3 feet. The microbial life span depends on many factors, says Philip Tierno, director of microbiology and diagnostic immunology at the New York University School of Medicine. Because viruses must invade cells of a living host to reproduce, their life spans outside are generally shorter than that of bacteria, which reproduce on their own. Although viruses can survive outside a host on household surfaces, their ability to duplicate themselves is compromised—shortening the virus's life span.

Humidity also makes a difference; no bacteria or virus can live on dry surfaces with a humidity of less than 10 percent. Any sort of nutrients—food particles, skin cells, blood, mucus—helps microbes thrive, which is why your kitchen sponge is a breeding ground.

Bacteria called mesophiles, such as the tuberculosis-causing Mycobacterium tuberculosis, survive best at room temperature and are likely to thrive longer than cold-loving psychrophiles or heat-loving thermophiles. According to Tierno, at room temperature and normal humidity, Escherichia coli (E. coli), a bacteria found in ground beef that causes food poisoning, can live for a few hours to a day. The calicivirus, the culprit of the stomach flu, lives for days or weeks, while HIV dies nearly instantly upon exposure to sunlight. Other microbes form exoskeleton-like spores as a defense mechanism, like the bacteria Staphylococcus aureus, which is responsible for toxic shock syndrome, food poisoning, and wound infections. In this way, they can withstand temperature and humidity extremes. Tierno says this bacterial spore can survive for weeks on dry clothing using sloughed skin cells for food. The Bacillus anthracis, the anthrax bacteria, can also form spores and survive tens to hundreds of years.

Worried that your home is a hospitable habitat? Tierno says simple hand washing can greatly reduce your risk of picking up germs. Using a disinfectant on high-traffic surfaces—doorknobs, kitchen counters, and sinks—also helps eliminate unwanted household guests.

[Blossom/Jackie W.]

Thanks Linda; a great piece!

Most of it doesn't surprise me (and a fair bit I knew); the humidity factor I'd never known about; and around here, living by the ocean....

MaryAZ should be in good shape though living in Phoenix.

I know the intestinal virus (Norwalk I think it is)that makes the rounds here sometimes in the hospitals and forcing the shut down of certain floors can live even on carpets for 2 weeks (no we don't have carpeting in the hospitals) but if it's on a person's carpet even at home they can bring it in.

Purell and I are "tight" I assure you. Also; here; as well as in many places in the U.S., some of the grocery stores have wipes by the carts so that you can wipe the handles. One of these days though I'm gonna get real close to read the label to ensure there's enough alcohol in them. (Here it's the Sobey's chain)