Dangerous bacteria: wash your hands before eating

The kitchen sink is much dirtier than its sister in the bathroom. The most dangerous area is the drain pipe. The bacteria have also taken a liking to your dishwashing sponges, sink and mixer tap.

Reduce your risk: Clean your kitchen countertop and sink with antibacterial cleaners. Especially after cooking meat, peeling raw vegetables and fruits, which contain many potential pathogens such as Salmonella, Campylobacter and E. coli. Wash your hands thoroughly in warm, soapy water for 20 seconds. Change sponges once a week or disinfect them in the dishwasher: 99,9% of bacteria are killed during the drying cycle. You can use the microwave for the same purpose. As for the drain, disinfect it 2 times a week: pour a tablespoon of chlorine into the drain and rinse it off with 1 liter of water.

It is a well-known fact that latrines (especially in public places) are teeming with a huge amount of bacteria, but experts are unanimous: for example, toilets on airplanes conceal an even greater danger. The small drain hole of the sink contributes little to cleanliness. In addition, a volcano-like toilet flush has a habit of spewing tiny particles of contents into the air, covering everything around with harmful bacteria.

Reduce your risk: Avoid touching toilet surfaces. Use tissue paper for the toilet seat, toilet lid, flush button and doorknob. After using the toilet, wash and dry your hands thoroughly. Close the toilet lid before pressing the flush button. If there is no cover, press the button and leave this haven of infections as soon as possible.

In your home, try to keep your bathroom and toilet clean. It will not be superfluous to carry out general wet cleaning using special cleaning agents at least once every three days.

Taking out wet underwear from the washing machine, you get E. coli as a “bonus”. One contaminated object spreads bacteria throughout the laundry, and they remain in the drum of the washing machine.

Reduce the risk: Use the boil program (150 ° C) to wash your underwear. Wash white laundry with bleach (for white, not colored laundry – the latter is weaker), which kills 99,9% of bacteria. Wash underwear separately (each pair of dirty underwear contains approximately 1 g of excrement), tumble dry for at least 45 minutes. Wash your hands after washing and hanging damp laundry.

Cruel blow: the place where you go to be finally clean is not really. Staphylococcus bacteria, a common cause of serious skin infections, were found in 26% of baths tested, according to an American study. The same find awaited scientists in only 6% of garbage cans! You wash away germs and viruses from the body, but they remain in the bath, because its moist environment is ideal for bacteria to multiply.

Reduce your risk: Wash your tub with a disinfectant at least once a week. After that, thoroughly rinse off the cleaning compound and wipe the bath bowl dry. If you leave it wet, the germs are more likely to survive. If anyone in your family has skin infections, the tub should be washed with a solution of 2 tablespoons of chlorine in a liter of water.

This message is enough to force you to dial the emergency number: our phones, especially office phones, are real collections of bacteria and viruses. The table, computer keyboard and mouse are not far behind. All telephones, including cell phones, can be quite dangerous, because what a person has on his tongue ends up on the handset.

Reduce your risk: From time to time, wipe your desk, phone, and keyboard with antibacterial wipes.

What do you do first when you enter a house? Surely grab the remote control and turn on the TV. How dirty is it? In a recent study, various surfaces were checked for viruses. As a result, they were found on the TV remote control, door handles, light switches, pens and mixer taps.

Reduce the risk: Wipe the TV and air conditioner remote control and all listed “hazardous” items with a disinfectant.

Recent studies have shown that handbags are infested with bacteria. These include Pseudomonas aeruginosa (which can cause eye infections), staphylococcus bacteria, salmonella and E. coli.

Reduce your risk: Instead of throwing your bag on the floor, always hang it on a hook, especially in public restrooms. Also, keep it away from food stalls. Choose a bag made of leather or vinyl – these materials are not as favored by bacteria and infections as fabric.

Saliva, bacteria and faeces are just a few of the substances found on shopping cart handles. Daily “battering”, raw food – all this does not add sterility to the carts.

Reduce risk: Before grabbing baskets or trolleys, wipe the handle with a disinfectant wipe or gel, which should always be in your purse. Although, of course, no one forbids you to kick the cart in front of you with your feet.

It’s hard to find a way to express it more gracefully, but be that as it may: small children tend to exude bodily fluids and spread them around. When the researchers tested the playgrounds, they found blood, mucus, saliva and urine there. Combine these findings with the fact that children stick their fingers in their mouths and nose more often than most adults, and it becomes clear why a toddler (and possibly his mom or dad already) is sniffing.

Reduce your risk: Always have antibacterial wipes or gel in your purse. Wipe your child’s hands with it a couple of times during your visit to the park, and always before giving your child a cookie or apple. Choose warm, sunny days for outdoor play: UV light is an effective disinfectant. And remember: most bacteria do not survive on hot, dry surfaces.

Money is not the only thing that gets into your hands from the ATM. Their buttons are dirtier than public restroom door handles. These machines are rarely cleaned, but they are often used by a wide variety of people, and these are excellent conditions for breeding bacteria.

Reduce the risk: Disinfect your hands with gel or wipes after using the machine. We advise you to do the same every time you pick up money – a well-known vector of microbes.

Antibiotic-resistant staphylococcus aureus has been found on yoga mats and exercise machines, as well as school mats. It cannot be ruled out that this can happen in sports and health centers, sports schools and fitness clubs.

Reduce Risk: Wipe the handles and seat of the machine with antibacterial gel before exercising. Bring your own yoga mat or cover the clubhouse with your own towel. Be sure to take a shower after class to wash off harmful bacteria, by the way, this very staphylococcus is also not a fan of water procedures.