Ever since I was a child, I was always organized; dolls with blonde hair in one bin, dolls with brown hair in another, both sealed tight so no dust was able to reach them. I would take them out every day, polish them up, brush their hair, and dress them in color-coordinated outfits. I made sure my careless, toddler of a brother never touched them with his greasy french fry or ravioli hands. I was a clean freak. Still to this day—living in a dorm so small with another person—I know germs live everywhere. I am sure to clean top to bottom of the microwave and fridge every other Wednesday and am sure to vacuum under the rug, in the bathroom and under my desk every Friday after my 11:00 a.m. chemistry lecture. Germs, dirt and bacteria lie in every
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Humans’ attitudes towards these human health helpers have been negative—including me—wanting to remove all signs of life of these little guys. “Germophobia,” an article published by the Journal of American Medical Association, shows that a new developmental phobia is on the rise: fear of microbes. People with this fear are commonly known as “germophobes.” Throughout history, there have been many sickness epidemics such as Yellow Fever, Black Death, Swine Flu and Ebola. People now believe that any sign of dirt, dust or grime that is found, is there to negatively impact their lives and cause these severe epidemics yet again. The biggest misconception here is that viruses are not bacteria, and can potentially work with the germs we live with every day. These virus outbreaks listed above are strictly referred to as “parasites” in T.H. Pennington’s book, Have Bacteria Won? Pennington confirms that these viruses “can’t make protein on their own and so they can’t grow outside cells” (Pennington 2). These viruses are dependent figures, searching for hosts to infest and defeat while some other viruses attach onto germs to destroy them, in this case, benefitting the human population. Viruses along with bacteria are able to help people when and where they least expect …show more content…
Common myths of “your dog’s mouth is cleaner than your toilet” sure gets some people thrown off track with their cleaning schedule; contemplating how much MORE cleaning supplies they should use next time while cleaning the bathroom. “Each year, the world spends $24 billion on soap bars or liquid gels and wash. . . another $106 billion goes on cleaning, laundry, dishes, lavatories, [other surfaces like baths and showers]” reports Euromonitor International (qtd in “Joy of Dirt”). Imagine how much us humans could save if this negativity about germs, dirt and bacteria stopped. People need to highlight the importance of these little guys because they deserve the credit for cleaning out our digestive tracts after a big dinner, not the new Lysol spray we just bought at the local Meijer. However, society is losing when trying to access information about such bacteria and germs because articles discriminate against them, placing them in common areas of the house and car where people are more likely to touch the most and contract a
Humans’ attitudes towards these human health helpers have been negative—including me—wanting to remove all signs of life of these little guys. “Germophobia,” an article published by the Journal of American Medical Association, shows that a new developmental phobia is on the rise: fear of microbes. People with this fear are commonly known as “germophobes.” Throughout history, there have been many sickness epidemics such as Yellow Fever, Black Death, Swine Flu and Ebola. People now believe that any sign of dirt, dust or grime that is found, is there to negatively impact their lives and cause these severe epidemics yet again. The biggest misconception here is that viruses are not bacteria, and can potentially work with the germs we live with every day. These virus outbreaks listed above are strictly referred to as “parasites” in T.H. Pennington’s book, Have Bacteria Won? Pennington confirms that these viruses “can’t make protein on their own and so they can’t grow outside cells” (Pennington 2). These viruses are dependent figures, searching for hosts to infest and defeat while some other viruses attach onto germs to destroy them, in this case, benefitting the human population. Viruses along with bacteria are able to help people when and where they least expect …show more content…
Common myths of “your dog’s mouth is cleaner than your toilet” sure gets some people thrown off track with their cleaning schedule; contemplating how much MORE cleaning supplies they should use next time while cleaning the bathroom. “Each year, the world spends $24 billion on soap bars or liquid gels and wash. . . another $106 billion goes on cleaning, laundry, dishes, lavatories, [other surfaces like baths and showers]” reports Euromonitor International (qtd in “Joy of Dirt”). Imagine how much us humans could save if this negativity about germs, dirt and bacteria stopped. People need to highlight the importance of these little guys because they deserve the credit for cleaning out our digestive tracts after a big dinner, not the new Lysol spray we just bought at the local Meijer. However, society is losing when trying to access information about such bacteria and germs because articles discriminate against them, placing them in common areas of the house and car where people are more likely to touch the most and contract a