Believe it or not, there are people out there who avoid hand washing because they think that dirty hands will result in a healthier you! These people feel that in our obsession to avoid germs, our bodies will not build up antibodies to combat various diseases. With that kind of attitude, maybe people opposed to hand washing should consider licking door knobs!
First of all, we will never avoid all the germs and microbes that are out there. You would have to dunk a human being in a vat of Clorox to remove 99 percent of all those microscopic hitch-hikers. ( I would be willing to bet there would still be more than a few survivors.) Our bodies are covered with microbes both good and bad. A healthy person is likely not to become ill from these germs.
Our bodies build immunity to certain microbes in the course of our daily lives. That does not mean that we should welcome every germ out there with unwashed hands. If you contact a flu bug from your unwashed hands you may build immunity to that particular flu bug. Unfortunately, there are countless numbers of flu bugs. A flu bug can mutate before it gets to the end of the block where you live and now you have a completely different flu bug!
People who believe that dirty hands will make them healthier in the long run should consider that mutating flu germ. A person could be ill every day of the year with a different strain of the flu germ and the antibodies created along the way wouldn’t prevent them from getting sick. So far, we have only mentioned one kind of germ found on dirty hands, now let’s take a look at a door knob.
If you actually licked a door knob, something I don’t recommend, you would come in contact with all manner of germs. There are estimates that millions of germs reside on door knobs! For the non-believers of hand washing, a door knob is a germ bonanza. Simply lick that doorknob and start building antibodies. (Don’t worry about getting deadly ill in the process.)
So what are some of the microbes found on a door knob? Here are just a few to make non-believers consider washing their hands:
Streptococcus- there are many strains of Streptococcus and some strains can cause meningitis, pneumonia, and flesh eating strains as well. (Still want to lick that door knob?)
Staphylococcus- this germ is not as deadly and is commonly found on our own skin. However, there are some strains that cause serious skin infections as well as food poisoning. (Are your hands starting to itch?)
E-coli- The E-coli germ has a split personality. Many forms of this germ are harmless and reside in the human digestive system and aid in the digestive process. Other forms are can be deadly causing diarrhea, meningitis, urinary tract infections, mastitis and pneumonia.
Salmonella- This particular bacterium is interesting in that it can be transferred between humans and animals. Salmonella is the leading cause of food poisoning and severe cases of diarrhea.
I just identified four of the millions of germs that can be found on a typical door knob. You can bet that there are many more that are sitting there waiting to infect you. If you are a person who believes that dirty hands can lead to good health, I wish you well. I simply don’t wish to shake your hand or share a bag of popcorn with you. And really, don’t even think about licking a door knob!