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What Are Germs?
Germs are tiny organisms, or living things, that can cause disease. Germs are so small and sneaky that they creep into our bodies without being noticed. In fact, germs are so tiny that you need to use a microscope to see them. When they get in our bodies, we don’t know what hit us until we have symptoms that say we’ve been attacked!
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What Types of Germs Are There?
Germs are found all over the world, in all kinds of places. There are four major types of germs: bacteria, viruses, fungi, and protozoa. They can invade plants, animals, and people, and sometimes they make us sick.
Bacteria (back-teer-ee-uh) are tiny, one-cell creatures that get nutrients from their environment in order to live. In some cases that environment is the human body. Bacteria can reproduce outside of the body or within the body as they cause infections. Some infectious bacteria cause sore throats (called strep throat), ear infections, cavities, and pneumonia ( new-mo-nyuh).
Viruses (vy-rus-iz) can’t live outside of living cells. They need to be in or on a living thing like a plant, animal, or person in order to grow and reproduce. Whatever a virus lives in is called its host. When viruses get inside people’s bodies, they can spread and make people sick. Viruses cause chicken pox, measles, flu, and many other diseases.
Fungi (fun-guy) are multi-cell (made of many cells), plant-like organisms. Unlike other plants, fungi cannot make their own food from soil, water, and air. Instead, fungi get their nutrition from plants, people, and animals. They love to live in damp, warm places. An example of something caused by fungi is athlete’s foot, that itchy rash that teens and adults sometimes get between their toes.
Protozoa (say: pro-toh-zoh-uh) are one-cell organisms that love moisture and often spread diseases through water. Some protozoa cause intestinal infections that lead to diarrhea, nausea, and abdominal pain.
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What Do Germs Do?
Once germs invade our bodies, they generally stay causing illness. Germs can eat up nutrients and energy, and can produce toxins which, cause symptoms of common infections, like fevers, sniffles, rashes, coughing, vomiting, and diarrhea.
How do doctors figure out what germs are doing? They take a closer look. By looking at samples of blood and other fluids under a microscope or sending these samples to a laboratory for more tests, doctors can tell which germs are living in your body and how they are making you sick.
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What are the most common ways in which germs are transmitted?
CDC cites five common household scenarios in which disease-causing germs can be transmitted by contaminated hands.
Hands to food
Food to hands to food
Food to hands to others
Infected infant to hands to other children
Nose, mouth, or eyes to hands to others
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How can you protect yourself from germs?
Many germs are spread through the air in sneezes, coughs, or even breaths. Germs can also spread in sweat, saliva and blood. Some pass from person to person by touching something that is contaminated, like shaking hands with someone who has a cold and then touching your own nose. So the best way to protect yourself from germs is to steer clear of the things that can spread them:
Cover your nose and mouth when you sneeze and cover your mouth when you cough to keep from spreading germs.
Safe Hand Hygiene. Washing or sanitizing your hands well is often the best way to "Beat the Bug". Clean your hands every time you cough or sneeze, before and after you prepare foods or use the bathroom, after you handle money, and after you visit a sick relative or friend.
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When should you wash or sanitize your hands?
You should wash or sanitize your hands often. Probably more often than you do now because you can’t see germs with the naked eye or smell them, so you do not really know where they are hiding.
It is especially important to wash your hands:
Before, during and after you prepare food
Before you eat, and after you use the bathroom
After handling animals or animal waste
When your hands are dirty, and
More frequently when someone in your home is sick.
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What is the correct way to wash your hands?
First wet your hands and apply liquid or clean bar soap. Place the bar of soap on a rack and allow it to drain.
Rub your hands vigorously together and scrub all surfaces.
Continue for 10-15 seconds or about time it takes to sing the Happy Birthday song twice. It is the soap combined with the scrubbing action that helps dislodge and remove germs.
Rinse well and dry your hands.
It is estimated that one out of three people do not wash their hands after using the restroom. So these tips are also important when you are out in public.
Washing your hands regularly can certainly save a lot on medical bills. Because it costs less than a penny, you could say that this penny’s worth of prevention could save you a $50 visit to the doctor.
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What is the correct way to sanitize your hands?
Apply a dime size amount of hand sanitizer to hands.
Rub hands thoroughly together until completely dry.
No rinsing or towels required.
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