What Happens After All This Sanitizing

We sanitize everything now because of this covid bug. What happens to all the other viruses and bacteria ?

Are we creating super bugs in the process ?

This is an old article , but I have been thinking about this.

With everyone sanitizing everything, are we killing off the good microbes and creating possible newer, more dangerous super bugs in the process to could be the finishing blow to humanity ?

Dr. Jack Gilbert wants to make our hospitals dirty.

His idea runs counter to hundreds of years of scientific practice. Since a surgeon named Joseph Lister became the first to use antiseptic techniques in 1867 and save thousands of lives, modern medicine has worked tirelessly to create sterile medical environments — free of micro-organisms.

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It all changed when Dr. Gilbert, associate director of the Institute for Genomic and Systems Biology at Argonne National Laboratory, began studying dolphins in 2014. He noticed that the animals were much healthier the “dirtier” the aquarium water was.

“We saw the benefit in increasing the microbial diversity of the home,” explained Gilbert. According to Dr. Gilbert, the lack of a rich microbial ecosystem, especially in our hospitals, might be causing more harm than good, leading to drug resistant strains of powerful superbugs and infection-causing viruses.

nypost.com...

I need a damn good hand cream that's for sure!

Its always been considered that humans should be exposed to various germs & bacteria especially early on in life. I think at some point, which we're probably not too far from now, our environments such as home & office are going to be very clinically clean which could have the effect of leaving people open to illnesses and diseases that we haven't seen for many years. Kids don't play outside as much anymore, trapped indoors with their ipads and phones, I think this is one of the reasons we now see so many kids diagosed as "asthmatic". Only a few years ago the doctors were throwing out inhalers like smarties, whereas years ago I think I only ever knew 1 proper asthmatic

Survival of the fittest. Eventually we’ll have to barricade our doors and fight them off with a leg we broke off of a table.

a reply to: Groot

It makes sense. Overuse of antibiotics have caused bacteria to mutate and become immune to them so it stands to reason that overuse of germ killing chemicals will also cause mutations which make them immune to those chemicals.

originally posted by: PhyllidaDavenport
I need a damn good hand cream that's for sure!

Its always been considered that humans should be exposed to various germs & bacteria especially early on in life. I think at some point, which we're probably not too far from now, our environments such as home & office are going to be very clinically clean which could have the effect of leaving people open to illnesses and diseases that we haven't seen for many years. Kids don't play outside as much anymore, trapped indoors with their ipads and phones, I think this is one of the reasons we now see so many kids diagosed as "asthmatic". Only a few years ago the doctors were throwing out inhalers like smarties, whereas years ago I think I only ever knew 1 proper asthmatic

I, for one , have a strong immune system because , well, I'm a dirty boy that is exposed to all kinds of germs daily. Those around me, especially my wife, don't fair as well. I get a sniffle, and she is sick for days.

I believe in the toning down on hygiene, but these days, I have become very vigilant in cleaning while at work and when I come home for fear of bringing something home.

originally posted by: GeauxHomeYoureDrunk
a reply to: Groot

It makes sense. Overuse of antibiotics have caused bacteria to mutate and become immune to them so it stands to reason that overuse of germ killing chemicals will also cause mutations which make them immune to those chemicals.

Exactly what I am talking about.

Wasn't MRSA a big problem because of this exact thing?

originally posted by: Groot

originally posted by: GeauxHomeYoureDrunk
a reply to: Groot

It makes sense. Overuse of antibiotics have caused bacteria to mutate and become immune to them so it stands to reason that overuse of germ killing chemicals will also cause mutations which make them immune to those chemicals.

Exactly what I am talking about.

Wasn't MRSA a big problem because of this exact thing?

It still is. I've had two friends battle a MRSA infection, one shook it off fine with time and prescriptions at home, while the other had to be admitted to the hospital and treated with multiple aggressive rounds of antibiotic treatments. It was not a stay she remembers fondly.

originally posted by: GeauxHomeYoureDrunk
a reply to: Groot

It makes sense. Overuse of antibiotics have caused bacteria to mutate and become immune to them so it stands to reason that overuse of germ killing chemicals will also cause mutations which make them immune to those chemicals.

I know that this is what we've been told. We've also been told it's because we didn't take enough antibiotics, as in not finishing a 10-day course, allowing the bacteria to mutate. But I'm not sure either is true. Or, at least, not the whole truth.

I've spent years and years studying MRSA in specific, and antibiotic-resistant bacteria in general. These infections have been around forever. They were discovered not long after antibiotics themselves were discovered. Hence the constant development of new and improved antibiotics.

At least one reason for the confusion and/or deception is that the medical community is covering up their own liability for infecting patients with some of these antibiotic-resistant infections during surgeries and other invasive procedures. It took a while for me to figure out there were two different forms of MRSA -- Hospital or Healthcare Acquired (HA-MRSA) or Community Acquired (CA-MRSA). The former refers to internal infections introduced directly to the body during surgery, the latter to external infections (abscesses on the skin) with contaminated surfaces in the environment. They are both staph infections, but different strains, different symptoms, presentations and progressions, and require different treatment protocols. Much like Covid is also a "cold" virus, but a different strain, with its own set of symptoms, presentations and progressions.

These antibiotic-resistant infections could be playing a big role in Covid deaths as well via Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia. It's a known problem in the medical community that many ventilators are contaminated with antibiotic-resistant infections, which are then transmitted to the patients on the ventilators. Maybe that's one reason for so many more deaths some places than others. Maybe this is why so many want new ventilators. Wikipedia states that it is "a major source of increased illness and death." It has to play some role in this crisis. I've wondered if it's these secondary infections that are creating the unusual conditions doctors are reporting. But no one is talking about VAP!

I obviously don't know all the whys and wherefores. But I know that it's far more complicated than what we're being told.

Yes, we should focus on the familiar, neglected but dependable microbes threatening us. This one virus has taken all the attention.

As to the super bug problem, maybe eating boogers and smearing yogurt around one's house could combat them ... I'm not sure how but I saw it on Youtube and so the guy must have had some level of expertise.

As an aside, why don't they have big chap-sticks for hands?