What microbes live nearby? It is forbidden to touch! Parts of the body that are most often attacked by dangerous germs

Many times a day, carefully and thoroughly. This will all last until they see this photo of microbes under a microscope that live on the hands of children. Their mere appearance, even without a detailed description, will be an excellent reminder of the mandatory observance of children's hygiene.

While this information figuratively gave you goosebumps, a photograph of the palm of an 8-year-old child, which is now walking around the Internet, opened our eyes to the fact that entire squads of microbes actually run across children’s skin.

To warm up, here's a scary fact: The human body is home to billions of microorganisms, outnumbering our cells 10 to 1. Of course, some members of the microbial world can cause disease, but the vast majority live in harmony with humans: in the mouth, nose and skin.

After filling a petri dish with a special laboratory solution, a microbiologist from California asked her 8-year-old son to make an imprint in it one morning after he had done a few chores and played with the dog. The child was absolutely healthy.

After this, the scientist incubated the vessel at body temperature and after two days, “several orders” of bacteria turned into colonies.

Then Ms. Sturm, the boy's mother, decided to photograph her home experiment and post it on the American Society for Microbiology website MicrobeWorld.

“There are approximately several million bacteria in this giant flower.”

But you are unlikely to see such a concentration of bacteria on your palm because in the experimental conditions the bacteria were provided with optimal conditions for reproduction and prosperity.

The huge bacterial bloom on her son's hand likely represents a particular type of bacilli, the most diverse group of bacteria. Scientists use certain types of bacilli to synthesize antibiotics such as bacitracin and polyximin. That is, despite the fact that there are those that can cause disease, most bacteria are absolutely harmless to humans.

“This is something that is often present in the environment. We often do swab samples from shoe soles, and there are also huge numbers of bacteria there.”

The reason why the bacteria are located clearly along the contour of the hand is that the rest of the vessel is absolutely sterile. But if you noticed, there is another layer of bacteria between the thumb and index finger.

"It's probably a contaminant," Sturm said. “I did the experiment at home on the kitchen counter, so when you lift the lid there is a possibility of contamination of the vessel, such as dust or animal dander.”

The following photo shows a close-up view of the bacteria concentration.

Although the biologist didn't do specific tests to determine how many types of different bacteria were present in the print, she did say she could try to make a scientific guess as to what microorganisms populated the print.

“A few white colonies can be seen around the fingertip area. It looks like staphylococcus. Yellow colonies are micrococcus, and pink colonies are serratia.”

All of the above bacteria are very common - we come into contact with them on a daily basis. Staphylococcus is a round bacterium that is often found in soil and also likes to linger on human skin and mucous membranes.

Many species of micrococcus are harmless and prefer to live in water, dust and soil, but scientists have also found the presence of micrococcus on human skin, dairy products and beer.

Some types of serratia, on the other hand, can lead to infection, especially for people in the hospital. These bacteria love to colonize our respiratory and urinary tracts, but can also live on our skin.

Bacteria on a child's hands: harmless or dangerous?

The bacteria that are present on my son’s hands do not bother the microbiologist.

“We're exposed to bacteria every day throughout our lives, and that's part of a healthy immune system,” says Sturm. “Therefore, if the child does not have an immunodeficiency, there is practically no reason for concern. You just have to be sensible and remember to wash your hands.”

“Don’t put your hands in your mouth!” - perhaps this phrase could compete for one of the first places in the top 10 phrases spoken by mothers all over the world. Mothers know from practical experience that dirty hands that have been in the mouth can cause many diseases, from dysentery to stomatitis. Recent studies conducted by scientists at a Japanese university found that germs on hands not only exist, but there are a huge number of them - from 100 to 200 species.

Moreover, the number of microbes depends not so much on the level of human hygiene (although students were examined, surely if homeless people were examined, the numbers would be an order of magnitude higher), but on... gender. Yes, yes, who would have thought, there are twice as many germs on the hands of women as there are on the hands of men. And even if you are a very neat person and wash your hands five times a day, have a keyboard vacuum cleaner and a special nail brush, you still have germs on your hands, moreover, this is completely normal.

It is very difficult to completely get rid of germs, it is almost impossible to do this for a long time, and the attempts themselves can have very adverse consequences. The healthy skin of a healthy person is itself an obstacle to the penetration of microbes inside. It also has special detector cells that determine the degree of danger of the “creature” caught in its hands and transmit this information to the “center”. If the microbe is dangerous, the skin reacts with a whole range of actions, resulting in unbearable living conditions for pests. The vast majority of microbes on the hands are not pathogenic, but they help maintain this mechanism in an active state.

What happens when a person constantly uses antibacterial soap to get rid of germs on his hands? Firstly, his immune system is not trained. It weakens and begins to fail after failure, which manifests itself in allergic reactions. It is this mechanism that underlies the proven fact: children in families where cleanliness is fanatical suffer from allergies tens of times more often than in families where hygiene rules are simply observed.

Secondly, the constant use of antibacterial agents dries out the skin of the hands and deprives it of the lipid film, one of the main skin defense mechanisms. The result is the opposite of what was expected: the skin becomes vulnerable, microcracks form on it, through which microbes, which are found in abundance everywhere, freely penetrate, even in the air. In conditions of reduced immunity, even opportunistic pathogens, that is, harmless to a healthy person, can cause serious inflammation.

When it comes to germs on your hands, you should be guided by the rule of the golden mean, or simply common sense. Maintaining good hygiene is necessary, but nothing more.

We are fortunate that the millions and billions of bacteria and viruses surrounding us are not visible. If overnight we suddenly saw this whole swarming, multiplying and chewing microcosm, I guarantee that many would experience something that the authors of the world’s coolest “horror” films never dreamed of.

Do not wash handkerchiefs and linen together

When washing, hygienists advise sorting laundry not only by fabric composition or color, but also, if possible, to contain pathogenic microbes. So, bed and underwear cannot be washed together with table linen (tablecloths and napkins) and handkerchiefs, especially if you choose a temperature setting of less than 60 degrees.

Handkerchiefs, if you have not yet switched to paper ones, are generally recommended to be washed separately from everything else and boiled from time to time, especially if someone in the family has suffered from respiratory viral infections. And in any case, iron them with a very hot iron.

Some parents sometimes forget to remind their child that they must wash their hands, many times a day, thoroughly and thoroughly. This will all last until they see this photo of microbes under a microscope that live on the hands of children. Their mere appearance, even without a detailed description, will be an excellent reminder of the mandatory observance of children's hygiene.

After this, the scientist incubated the vessel at body temperature and after two days, “several orders” of bacteria turned into colonies.

Then Ms. Sturm, the boy's mother, decided to photograph her home experiment and post it on the American Society for Microbiology website MicrobeWorld.

“There are approximately several million bacteria in this giant flower.”

But you are unlikely to see such a concentration of bacteria on your palm because in the experimental conditions the bacteria were provided with optimal conditions for reproduction and prosperity.

“This is something that is often present in the environment. We often do swab tests on shoe soles, and bacteria are also present in huge quantities.”

“It's probably a contaminant,” Sturm said. “I did the experiment at home on the kitchen counter, so when you lift the lid there is a possibility of contamination of the vessel, such as dust or animal dander.”

The following photo shows a close-up view of the bacteria concentration.

“A few white colonies can be seen around the fingertip area. It looks like staphylococcus. Yellow colonies are micrococcus, and pink colonies are serratia.”

Many species of micrococcus are harmless and prefer to live in water, dust and soil, but scientists have also found the presence of micrococcus on human skin, dairy products and beer.

The bacteria that are present on my son’s hands do not bother the microbiologist.

And although these images may make some people shudder, it is still a completely natural part of being human in the world of microbes. Moreover, cultivating microorganisms on solid nutrient media is a great science project for kids. One of the comments under the photo on the MicrobeWorld website:

« I remember many years ago I had a student who was the parent of a kindergarten-age child. When the child was near the university, he always asked his father to take him with him to the microbiology laboratory, where he begged me to give him a vessel (Petri dish). He would then leave a fingerprint on it and take it home. And then, my father would bring her back for steam sterilization. The child thought it was the coolest thing in the world. We microbiologists must appreciate the appeal our science has among young children.»

WHAT MICROBES LIVE NEARBY

We are fortunate that the millions and billions of bacteria and viruses surrounding us are not visible. If overnight we suddenly saw this whole swarming, multiplying and chewing microcosm, I guarantee that many would experience a shock that the authors of the world’s coolest “horror” films never dreamed of.

The coming summer warmth is a real paradise not only for people tired of the cold, but also for insidious microorganisms. It is in the summer that the number of infectious diseases increases. And not only intestinal, but also colds, traditionally considered “winter”. Why do we have a runny nose and cough in the summer, we wonder. And we don’t suspect that germs and viruses are sitting very close by in the hope that we will forget about the rules of the most basic hygiene.

Three main dangers at home

Good housewives traditionally consider the bathroom and hallway to be the most dangerous in terms of hygiene. And they wash them, not sparing their hands and not sparing cleaning products. However, in fact, the greatest danger lies in completely different places.

1. Refrigerator. With unlimited trust in modern technology, many of us forget the simplest rules of food safety. We do not comply with the shelf life of dairy, meat dishes and semi-finished products; we store canned food in an open form, not paying attention to the manufacturer’s warning that this should not be done. We put raw and cooked foods next to each other, set the refrigerator to an economical operating mode, forgetting that it may be the most pleasant for microbes. The result is obvious - intestinal infections, food poisoning.

2. Kitchen equipment. It is especially dangerous to use the same cutting boards and knives for cutting raw meat and fish and prepared foods. There should also be a separate board for cutting raw vegetables, especially leafy ones. Vegetables and fruits are often not washed very thoroughly, and yet they are dangerous not so much by “harmful chemicals” as by microbes that get on them from organic fertilizers.

3. Washing machine. Americans have long been accustomed to saving money by using cold wash with a minimum cycle (up to 30 minutes), as well as by refusing to iron many things. We are also successfully mastering this fashion. Meanwhile, most microbes survive this type of washing and remain on the laundry.

Three dangers in the office

The famous American microbiologist Professor Charles Gerba recently published the results of his new study. This time he found out where the most germs and viruses live in ordinary American offices. It turned out that it was not at all where the office workers themselves assumed. They believed that the most “dirty” places were the toilets in public toilets. It turned out that everything was wrong. The champions in microbial insemination were:

1. Computer keyboards.

2. Telephone handsets.

3. Sinks in public toilets.

In terms of the number of evil bacteria, the leaders were keyboards and phones, which were used not by one person, but by two or more. If, on average, a little more than 20 thousand microbes lived on every square inch of office surface, then almost 26 thousand lived on them. The number of germs on a keyboard was 400 times greater than on a public toilet seat. In the sinks that almost always remain wet in office toilets, a whole army of harmful microbes that love heat and moisture was discovered. All these little villains can cause a whole range of diseases: conjunctivitis, sore throat, runny nose, intestinal and skin infections.
According to Professor Gerba, those most at risk of contracting an infectious disease at work are school teachers, cashiers and cashiers in stores and banks, as well as doctors.

Three dangers in public places

Doctors delicately call the most common causes of intestinal infections “fecal contamination.” It is clear how microbes living in the intestines can break free - only through the unwashed hands of a person who has used the toilet.

1. Public toilet. The dirtiest place here is the door handle on the exit side. The second most dangerous thing is the sink and its tap valves. The third is the urinal lever or button.

2. Keyboards and mice of computers in Internet cafes and handles of telephone booths.

3. Handrails in public transport.

Contrary to popular belief, only slightly more microorganisms live on doorknobs and elevator buttons than on average in public spaces. The reason may be that the buttons are a vertical surface that traps less dust. In addition, both they and door handles dry out faster, and germs love dirt and moisture.

Myths from neat and dirty

Hygiene habits are formed in early childhood. But parents have different views on them. Some mothers cheerfully believe that “dirt kills germs,” while others raise their offspring in morbid cleanliness.

The myth of “useful dirt” does not stand up to criticism - such children are more likely to get sick, get poisoned, and when they grow up, their dislike for cleanliness causes a lot of trouble for those around them.

No less burdensome is the mania for cleanliness that, for example, the great poet Mayakovsky suffered from (contemporaries recall that he always carried a collapsible glass with him so as not to use someone else’s drinking utensils). But endless hand washing, using soap and shampoo with antimicrobial additives, etc. only increase human vulnerability. The place of “peaceful” microbes on his skin is freed up, and he is gladly captured by aggressive and evil infections.

In fact, for safety it is enough to follow the “golden mean”: always wash your hands after using the toilet, before eating, before and after preparing food, after returning home from the street, etc. All other hygiene procedures are a matter of personal cleanliness.

What microbes live nearby?

The most common inhabitants of apartments and offices that infectious disease specialists detect:
- Escherichia coli - causes intestinal disorders and skin diseases;

Klebsiella pneumonia - a whole range of infectious diseases from intestinal to pulmonary;

Salmonella - causes salmonellosis;

Streptococcus - skin and internal infectious diseases;

Staphylococcus aureus - a whole range of diseases from skin to sepsis (general blood poisoning).

Viruses can live in a humid environment for up to several weeks, and in a dry environment for up to several days:

Rotavirus - causes a disease like ARVI, but with severe damage to the intestines (many people call this infection “stomach flu”, but such a disease does not exist);

Hepatitis A and E are acute viral inflammation of the liver.

Contrary to popular misconceptions, they do not live in the external environment (including in public toilets) and do not transmit AIDS viruses and pathogens of sexual diseases such as gonorrhea, chlamydia or trichomoniasis through dirty hands.

Do not wash handkerchiefs and linen together

When washing, hygienists advise sorting laundry not only by fabric composition or color, but also, if possible, to contain pathogenic microbes. So, bed and underwear cannot be washed together with table linen (tablecloths and napkins) and handkerchiefs, especially if you choose a temperature setting of less than 60 degrees.