"GERMS" - Friend or Enemy?

Sarah - posted on 05/20/2010

Okay, I will admit that I am a tad bit of a germaphobe...but if you ask my husband, he would tell you that I am a FREAK about it haha. ;) I used to work in a hospital, so I got into the habit of constantly washing my hands. I would wash my hands so much and use so much of that alcohol based sanitizer that my hands were cracked and bleeding...now that's HORRIBLE!

My son was born in September '09, right around the time of the H1N1 thing so I was extremely paranoid about him getting the flu. I rarely took him out until he got to be older. I really think I over did it & my family kept telling me that I'm going to make him a very very paranoid child who is afraid of everything. Now that he's 8 months old I think I have managed to lighten up A LOT. He's crawling now & getting into everything so I try my very best to keep our carpets as clean as possible. But, then I'll turn around and he'll have a huge chunk of dog hair in his hand or something lol. Oh well...boys will be boys and I've got to let it go! :)

Kathy - posted on 05/20/2010

We've always been pretty clean, but I'm certainly not a germophobe! The family has always been pretty healthy - I refuse to live in a bubble. I do know there are some people who have to, literally, live in a bubble, because of various conditions, but I'm just so glad we don't have to!
It's a real world out there. Sometimes I suspect that the multinationals that make all the cleaning stuff have a part to play in the rise of germophobia!

Abbie - posted on 05/19/2010

We are not germ a phobes. We are clean people but I am not a huge user to sanitizer, but we wash hands and keep a tidy house, I think germs are a good thing to a certain degree.

We too are rarely sick, 1 time a year ( always in march) we get a pretty nasty cold run through our house, I guess it could be allergies starting too.

Iridescent - posted on 05/19/2010

We have a family with a couple problems. One has no IgA immunity. Another is totally immunocompromised due to other diseases present. We ask that people that come into our home be healthy as far as they are aware. If they have been exposed to an illness knowingly, or had a live vaccine within the past week, or have an active cold or other illness, they may not visit. Our children are kept home from school when they do live vaccinations there, and they also do not go to the clinic on days when they have the live vaccine clinics there. We do not wash our hands at every speck of dirt, but we do clean regularly. Vacuum a couple times a week, change filters monthly in air conditioners and a couple times per winter in the furnace. Wash the floor nightly, do dishes 1-2x per day (large family). It all depends on the overall health of your family or yourself. My daughter's disease - the most common cause of death is the common cold, 75% by age 5.

Ashley - posted on 05/19/2010

I keep my house clean but not sanitized. My son rarely gets sick and neither do us the parents. However I do like to be safe outside the house washing hands after coming in and making my son put on hand sanitizer after the dr's office ect.

Kristin - posted on 05/19/2010

We are good about washing hands before eating anywhere and when using the toilet. I won't say great, because sometimes you just forget and really, who knows what the person ahead of you did.

We wash the food we eat, because again who knows where it's been. As for regular life, kids get dirty. So do houses. I will not exhaust myself trying to wage a war on something that is going to win anyway.

I will say that if my kids are sniffy or feeling warm or coughing or obviously ill, we ramp it up. Wash hands lots, hand sanitizer when out, cough into elbow, use tissues once and toss, or just don't go anywhere when there is a temperature.

I tend to forget about most of the surfaces out there and really don't care that much. It's easier to remind my kids to keep their hands away from their faces until we can wash their hands.

Nicola - posted on 05/19/2010

As a microbiologist, I have to say "Friend". Otherwise I'm out of a job!!!!



I do grit my teeth when I hear people saying that they sterilise everything hard for the slightest speck of imagined dirt... immune systems develop by having an "enemy" to recognise, and without a solid immune response, you're asking for trouble. Did these people not read "War of the Worlds"???? ;-)



Plus, this is bacteria's planet. They were here first, and they'll be around long after we're gone!

Colleen - posted on 05/19/2010

Kate, I'm the same way, i'm just causes because the sheer fact of touching something after someone who just went to the bathroom n might not have washed their hands is just plain old GROSS. I am not obsessed about sterilizing everything, but I keep everything clean. thats not healthy to never expose u or ur childs immune system to any germs. They will never be able to fight anything off and therefor if they happened to be around someone sick their def gonna catch it. If they are exposed to the environment they are a lot less apt to get sick. For example look at school teachers they are around kids all day long and well now they keep hand sanitizer after all this swine flu stuff but they usually aren't sick very often. They have kids sneezing around them coughing and god knows what else. They become immune to many many germs.

Tamara - posted on 05/19/2010

I refuse to be a germoaphobe. They're here for a reason.

Becky - posted on 05/19/2010

I grew up in a hot, dry, very dusty, very, very poor third world country where malaria and parasites were very prevalent. So North America seems pretty clean to me by comparison! Despite, or maybe thanks to, growing up there, I have a very strong immune system and rarely get sick. So no, I'm very much not a germophobe. I do wash my kids's hands after they've been playing outside and in cold/flu season, I'll wipe down handles on shopping carts, stuff like that, if I think of it, but I often forget. So far, my kids have been pretty healthy. They've had colds and stomach bugs, but never anything that's landed them in the hospital or anything like that. I agree that some exposure to dirt and germs is good for the immune system. (unless you are immuno-compromised, of course!) I live by the phrase, "God made dirt, and dirt don't hurt!" :)

Kate CP - posted on 05/19/2010

I have an immune disorder. I don't over clean but I won't touch the doorknobs in public restrooms or eat without washing my hands first.

Tracey - posted on 05/19/2010

I work in a school and the kids who roll around and play in the fields / grass / sandpit are much healthier than the ones who have to have everything clean.
Obviously general cleanliness is good and I would never take a chance on undercooking food but a bit of dirt is fine.