Joe Mullich
Freelance Health Writer
818-907-9109
Ladies Home Journal
"Can Your Toothbrush Make You Sick?"
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Is it important to wipe off the table before eating?
Table surfaces are often covered with germs, so wiping a table before you eat makes sense. But how you wipe the table is as important as whether or not you do so. The best method for germ-proofing a table surface is to wipe it down with a household disinfectant, using a disposable paper towel; you'll toss the germs when you throw out the towel. Avoid using a sponge or washcloth that you've used to clean other areas of the kitchen. For instance, if you use a sponge that's been used to clean a counter where you've cut meat, you could actually spread more bacteria around. The germs from the raw meat can remain on the sponge, and then spread to anything that sponge touches. (Doctors call this "cross-contamination.").
Cross-contamination is difficult to avoid: Raw meat, fish and chicken, for instance, always contain bacteria. These bacteria are destroyed after the food is cooked. However, if you place a raw chicken in the oven but forget to wash your hands, the bacteria from the chicken can spread to everything you touch. Likewise, if you put a cooked piece of chicken back on the same platter you used to hold it when it was raw, the poultry is reinfected.
Cross-contamination is a major reason for many of the food poisonings that occur in American homes every year. It's likely that you have gotten food poisoning without realizing it: Health experts believe that many cases of so-called twenty-four-hour stomach bugs are really minor food poisonings that could be avoided.
Can I get sick using a workout machine that's damp with someone else's sweat?
Don't sweat this one at all. Many people believe that a good sweat "flushes" toxins from the body. This suggests that those puddles of perspiration are swarming with germs. While sweat on the weight bench may be aesthetically offensive, it actually is nothing more than water, with just a dash of salt and potassium. "Viruses are found only in respiratory secretions and saliva, not perspiration," says David L. Longworth, M.D., chairman of the department of infectious disease at The Cleveland Clinic Foundation, in Cleveland. The sweat from a person who has the flu is as harmless as the sweat from someone who is in perfect health.
Can I get sick by getting slobbered with kisses from a child who seems to be getting the flu?
Yes, it's possible--even likely--that you can. A kiss on or near the mouth from a child coming down with a respiratory infection is a good way of spreading germs. According to Patrick, a child who has the flu is usually contagious for seven days. For the first two days, the child will have no symptoms. You can still catch the flu from him, but there's not much you can do to prevent this unseen risk.
Other precautions you can take when there's a sick child in the house: Don't share drinking glasses or eating utensils. Use paper cups in the bathroom, rather than a shared drinking glass. Patrick also suggests increasing the household humidity to keep the mucous membranes moist. (Remember, viruses enter through dried, cracked areas of the lips and nasal passages.)
Can I get sick from touching money handled by a salesperson (or customer) who has a cold?
Certainly, coming into contact with anyone who has a cold exposes you to germs. The real question here, though, is whether germs tend to collect on money. Unfortunately, no one knows. While studies have looked at the number of germs on doorknobs and phones, the experts we interviewed were unaware of a single study examining money. "I've often wondered about that myself, especially if you pick up a coin or dollar that looks grungy," says Rubino. "Maybe people just don't want to know because we don't want to stop handling money." Washing your hands after handling money is a sensible precaution.
After all, who wants to spend the cash on doctor's bills?