How We Get Sick

Ignorance about the different modes of bacterial, viral, and spore transmission among people is a significant reason pandemics can spread throughout our communities.

The "Big Seven" Methods of Infection

•    Coughing and sneezing: aerosolization

•    Diarrhea: fecal hand-to-surface-to-hand-to-mouth route

•    Hostile environments: public restrooms, hospital waiting rooms, care of our sick child, elevators, airplanes, etc.

•    Poor hand hygiene techniques: not washing hands correctly with soap for at least twenty seconds

•    Handshake: much safer to bump fists or even touch elbows

•    Touching the face: done unconsciously many times a day

•    Kissing: Air kissing is much safer, as you are not touching the other person.

"Indirect" Routes of Transmission

List of everyday common objects that have the highest concentrations of pathogens includes:

•    Restroom doorknobs

•    Toilet stall locking handles

•    Raw meats and other foods on the same surfaces

•    Cell phones, iPods, MP3 players and the TV remote control

•    Books, pencils, crayons, balls, and toys at school

•    The headrest area of buses, airplanes, and movie theater seats

•    Office desktops

•    Computer keyboards and mouse

•    Elevator buttons

•    Light switches

•    Shopping cart handles

•    Restroom sink faucet handles

•    Toilet flushing handle

•    Hospital room privacy curtain

•    Hospitalized patient's nurses' call button

•    Picnic tables

•    Escalator handrails

•    Pet cages and pets

Sponges, towels, rags, and brushes can hold more germs than the areas you are cleaning. I must repeat it. Sponges, towels, rags, and brushes can hold more germs than the areas you are cleaning.

When you first walk into a Shopping Center Mall Food Court restroom, you notice shiny floors. This illusion hides the fact that the total pathogenic population on the restroom floor before cleaning may be the same as after cleaning, but now the floors are shining.

Food prepared by kitchen staff who washed their hands before preparing food but did not wash them after touching raw meats can then make salads or other uncooked entrees or side dishes that are not safe to eat. Be careful of:

•    Eating food made by sick kitchen staff;

•    Food prepared on contaminated kitchen countertops;

•    Pathogen cross-contamination inside food preparation areas (Listeria, Campylobacter); and

•    Drinking water or eating food washed in contaminated water (Cryptosporidium, Cholera).

"Direct" Route of Transmission

A direct vehicle of transmission (listed below) occurs when we have contact with the bodily fluids of a sick and contagious person:

•    Hands touching a sick person;

•    Sexual contact;

•    Shaking hands with other people;

•    Putting fingers in the mouth, nose, vagina, ear, or rectum; and

•    Accidental cuts or abrasions from contaminated objects.

"Airborne" Route of Transmission

Some of these airborne droplets can remain afloat for up to 2 hours, allowing someone to inhale pathogens through their mouth or absorb them through their skin. These droplets can carry many pathogens, but the three most famous are influenza, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and H1N1 (swine flu).

The following list is of bacteria, fungi, and viruses, and how they fly to you:

•    Dust particles found in hospitals, offices, and our homes could be infected with Staphylococcus aureus.

•    Spores (Clostridium difficile and Aspergillus) fly through our windows and doors to find us, or they get on us while we're waiting on the subway platform.

•    Water sprays from public water fountains where kids play on hot summer days, from air conditioning systems, and a gym or health club's shower area contain disease-inducing substances (E. coli, Legionella pneumophila).

•    In the elevator, because it is a poorly ventilated, small confined space containing captive people who cannot escape when someone coughs, sneezes, or breathes on them.

"Arthropods" Route of Transmission

What are arthropods? They look innocent, but they can harm our health if we let them coexist with us in our homes.

Flies and Mosquitoes: Public Enemy #1 & #2
Malaria and Viral Hemorrhagic Fevers (VHFs) are the two most infamous deadly bugs of all time. These two dangerous arthropods deserve our fearful respect, and we must declare war on their presence in our homes.

Other arthropods include bugs, fleas (Pediculosis), lice, midges, mites, and ticks (Lyme's disease, VHFs). Biting, burrowing, sucking, and leaving their shitty droppings on the food we eat is how arthropod-borne pathogens can be transmitted to humans by arthropods. Diseases include Scabies,