How To Be a Germophobe

Yesterday, as I sat in my Humanities class at Utah State University, which happens to be my favorite class, the girl sitting right next to me started coughing and sneezing. It was right in the middle of class so I couldn’t exactly get up and move, but I wanted to. I leaned as far away from her as I could. She was covering her mouth with her hands, which not only contaminates her hands, it sends her virus-contaminated coughs and sneezes out the sides, which was directly aimed at me. I could literally feel the air coming from her. It was horrifying. I felt completely contaminated.

Here’s what I did to remedy the situation:

As soon as I got home I sprayed some colloidal silver, which is antimicrobial, in my mouth and nose.

I took some Airborne.

I took some orange essential oil in a cup of water (for its natural antimicrobial properties).

I took a shower, scrubbed from head to toe and put all of my clothes including my coat in the washer.

So far so good. I haven’t come down with anything yet and hopefully I won’t at all.

This graphic speaks for itself. I wholeheartedly agree! Thanks to MASTERSINHEALTHCARE.COM for this content.

This is a new one for me. You’d think with six kids I would have come across this sooner, but I haven’t until now. I took my 3-year-old son to the doctor today for this rash that I noticed on his face yesterday. It is also on his shoulders, the top of his chest, the top of his back and the top of his arms. It didn’t look like heat rash or eczema so I thought I’d better have it looked at. The diagnosis: Erythema Infectiosum a.k.a. fifth disease or slapped cheek syndrome. It does look like he’s been slapped on the cheek. It is caused by a virus and it will go away on it’s own. It’s nothing to worry about unless you’re a woman in the first trimester of pregnancy or have a compromised immune system from chemotherapy or HIV. Nobody in my family has any of those issues to worry about.

According to Wikipedia, this is known as “fifth disease” because it is the fifth most common childhood rash. Number one is Measles, number two is Scarlet Fever, number three is Rubella, and number four is Dukes’ Disease.

The incubation period ranges from 4 to 21 days and it is contagious during this period. It is transmitted mainly through saliva. Once the rash appears, it is generally not contagious anymore. So, it is most contagious when you have no idea that there is an infection. It makes me wonder if my son picked it up sometime during our travels, maybe at a restaurant or something. We left Ohio on July 1st which puts it within the incubation period. We were in Washington, D.C. on June 27th which is also within the 21 days. As much as I tried to keep his hands clean, he’s three and he touches things. Anyway, it’s just a rash that will go away on its own. I’m glad it’s nothing serious.

A couple days ago, I took my 13-year-old son to the doctor for a check-up and to have the knee that has been bothering him looked at. I also had my oldest daughter and 3-year-old son with me. The waiting area is divided into separate seating areas that are side by side with the sick patient waiting area all the way at the end. My kids sat in the waiting area next to the one in front of the check-in desk where a couple with a young girl approximately 9 or 10 years old was sitting. As I was checking in, I heard the girl coughing a horrible sounding, wet cough. They were absolutely not sitting in the sick patient area where they should have been. I turned around and told my kids to move all the way to the other end in front of the pharmacy. I then turned to the lady checking me in and asked her “Shouldn’t they be in the sick waiting area?” She looked uncomfortable and said “yes” but did nothing about it. I have to say that I was extremely annoyed.

When the nurse called us back, I pointed out the girl and told her that she had a terrible cough and should be in the sick waiting area. She told the lady at the desk to give her a mask to put on but didn’t tell her to send them to the sick waiting area. At least a mask was an improvement. I just don’t understand why people are so careless. If they would keep their germs to themselves, they wouldn’t have a chance of infecting other people.

On another note, I was at a church meeting last Sunday and I noticed a young girl around 11 or 12 years old with a cough. She was coughing into her arm, which is good, but then she was biting her fingernails and touching things.

In my opinion, we need some good public health education messages out there to educate everyone to be more aware of what they are doing. If everyone was more careful, there would be hardly any sickness caused by germs. This is the reason that I am going back to college to get a degree in Public Health Education.

I am planning to attend Utah State University this fall to pursue a degree in Public Health Education. I’m so glad that this program is available so close to my home at such a great school. Getting a degree in this field will give me additional knowledge and credibility to continue and expand my work in the Public Health field. So far, I have written a book, an ebook, and developed a website and blog. My mission is to provide public education about avoiding the spread of infectious diseases and how to stay healthy by avoiding germs.

Public Health has become an important part of my life due to an experience fighting MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus). My husband brought this scary germ home from a visit to his Mother’s house. My Mother-in-law’s careless attitude about it has given me the desire to educate people about why it’s important to care. We were given absolutely no warning that there was a dangerous germ lurking in that house. My Mother-in-law said “It’s nothing. It’s just a sore. It will go away.”

I have become a “people watcher” since my experience with MRSA. I like to observe general hygiene practices and often blog about them. Some observations are good but most are not. I have seen people out shopping when they are obviously sick and should be home in bed. I have observed people coughing on their hands and then picking up grocery items. Public bathrooms are another big problem area. I have seen a woman set her purse in a public bathroom sink and then proceed to put on make-up. I have seen food items purchased in a convenience store and then taken into a very dirty bathroom and placed on the floor! I have seen kids crawling around on the floor. I have also seen purses, shopping bags and other items placed on public bathroom floors. Most people’s hand washing practices aren’t much better. Some don’t bother to wash their hands at all, some don’t get any soap, and some only wash their hands for a few seconds before rinsing them. It takes about a minute, or long enough to sing the alphabet song in your head, to get the germs off your hands. Then, turning the water off and opening the door puts the germs right back on.

With my degree in Public Health Education from Utah State, I will continue the work on my website, write additional books and update my current books. I may also look into a career at the Center for Disease Control or my local Public Health office. I would enjoy being involved in developing public health programs, writing brochures, teaching classes and informing the public about potential health risks. The bottom line is this: If everyone would be more careful, there would be much less risk of getting sick. Let’s all do our part to stop the spread of infectious diseases!

This scholarship is sponsored by CenturyLinkQuote.com.

Have you ever bought candy out of one of these machines? I have, but it’s been years.

These are usually located in waiting rooms at businesses or near exits at restaurants. They are right at eye level for kids to see.

The reason I no longer use this type of machine is the design. The candy is loose, not pre-packaged. First of all, you have to turn the knob which is probably loaded with germs, especially since it’s mostly kids who use these machines. Secondly, you have to lift the door to get the candy which exposes you to even more germs. Lastly, how many people stick their hands inside to make sure they have taken all of their candy out? Do these machines ever get cleaned? They probably do once in a while, but certainly not after each use. I’m sorry, but a handful of candy is not worth the risk of catching a cold or worse.

Water frogs, a common prize given out at state fairs and carnivals have been associated with an ongoing salmonella outbreak according to the CDC. If you or your child wins one, you might want to say “no” and ask for an alternate prize.

According to the CDC website:

“This nationwide outbreak is ongoing. As of July 18, 2011, a total of 241 individuals infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Typhimurium have been reported from 42 states since April 1, 2009. These infections are associated with African dwarf frogs–a type of water frog–and water from their habitats (e.g., tanks or aquariums).”

Please be careful around these pets as well as all amphibians and reptiles.

I recently went out to lunch with my husband, daughter, and 2-year-old Riley. Riley had a cold, but I can’t exactly leave him home alone. I used my grocery cart/high chair seat cover on the restaurant’s booster seat and it worked pretty well.

As I was eating, I accidentally picked up Riley’s drink and drank some. I realized, to my horror, that I had Sprite instead of water in my mouth. I had the urge to spit it out, but nowhere to spit. It was too late anyway. I already had his germs in my mouth. The second I got home I took some Airborne and a good nutritional supplement that I recently started using. I am happy to say that I did not catch his cold even with this direct exposure.

Here is the story behind why Airborne is my favorite immunity-boosting supplement:

About five years ago, my 2nd oldest daughter was sick with a really bad cold or maybe a mild flu. She had the works, fever, body aches, cough, runny nose, etc. She was down for about a week. One day, I don’t remember why, I was driving my minivan with her and all the other kids in it. She was coughing her head off and I remember thinking that we were all stuck in an enclosed space just breathing that in. It was January and too cold to open the windows. I had heard advertisments for Airborne and decided to try it out and see if it really works. I bought some and started taking it three times a day. I was pleased with the taste and I’m a really picky eater. The rest of the kids started dropping like flies. One after another started getting sick. They had it all too, fever, body aches and everything. In retrospect, I should have given them some Airborne too but I was just experimenting with it at the time. My youngest daughter who was 18-months-old at the time got sick as well. At that age, she would cough right in my face and get her snot all over me. I know I was exposed numerous times to this virus. My husband also caught it. He was sick in bed for about a week and ended up in the emergency room with a mild case of pneumonia. This was a fairly severe illness. Through all that time, with everybody around me sick, I kept taking Airborne three times a day and I never got sick. I had one day during that entire time where I had a slight headache and my stomach felt just a little bit queasy, but I was still up and around. That was it! Ever since that time, I swear by Airborne!

This past weekend, I went to Mesa, AZ for a combination 20th wedding anniversary trip and Profitable Author class. The class was great. I learned a lot and now have a lot of work to do!

While preparing for this trip, the thing I was most worried about was bedbugs since we would be staying in a hotel. I know they are not germs, but they are equally yucky and they are becoming a really big problem! I consulted my Travel Tips page to refresh my memory so I would know what to look for. We made the 14-hour drive each way, so airline travel wasn’t an issue this time.

We stayed at a Best Western hotel in Mesa. The rooms didn’t look anything like the pictures they have online but they were nice enough. I checked for evidence of bedbugs and didn’t find any. The room appeared to be clean but you never can tell if its actually sanitized or just looks good. I always bring my own hair dryer. I don’t want to touch theirs. The shower drain in our room was slow so I ended up standing in ankle deep water. I find that gross in my own home let alone a hotel room where many people have been. I used a wipe to wipe my feet and ankles once I got out of the shower.

We chose this hotel because they serve a hot breakfast. They did not have any hand sanitizer in the breakfast area. There are a lot of commonly used utensils for serving food. Fortunately, I had my own. The breakfast was okay but the eggs tasted gross and the sausages were cold in the middle.

One thing we had to deal with multiple times on a really long drive was public bathrooms, the yucky gas station variety. I was actually pleasantly surprised at the cleanliness of most of them. Some, however, were really gross. We took our 2-year-old and 6-year-old with us on this trip. The 2-year-old is still in diapers so I just changed him when needed in the car. The 6-year-old came with me to use the bathroom. Her hair is long enough to touch the toilet seat, so I took it and tucked it into her shirt. I lined the seat really well before I sat her on it. When we both finished, I used a paper towel to turn the water on and get soap for both of us. I threw that one away and finished washing my hands. I got a clean paper towel to dry my hands, turn the water off, and open the door. The only bathroom that was really, really bad was a Maverik in Flagstaff, AZ. It reeked of pee, it was filthy and it had no soap. I told one of the employees on my way out that they were out of soap and she didn’t care at all. I’ll remember not to stop there again. I went straight to my hand sanitizer and put some on both my and my daughter’s hands.

We visited my husband’s cousins the evening after the 2nd day of my class. It was a really nice visit. My husband hadn’t seen them since he was a little kid and I had never met them. They fed us dinner and let us spend the night at their house. Just as I was getting my plate of food, my 2-year-old started throwing up. I hoped he wasn’t sick and spreading his germs. I suspect he either ate some bad food or it was just motion sickness from all the driving. He threw up twice that night and once the next morning on the way home. He was fine after that. Fortunately, nobody else got sick. I’m really glad I got to meet these cousins. They were really nice and fun to be around.