Germs transfer

[David H]

Is this an old wives tale, or is it true it's not easy to transfer germs from one dry surface to another? Contrary views tell you dry toilet doorknobs and handles do pass germs to hands, so which is true?

[mimififi]

I do know a nurse who is head of public health and hygiene or some such thing in the hospital department she works in and she says that if you wash something hard with hot water and dry it quickly, no bacteria can grow on it. In other words, bacteria cannot grow on a clean, dry hard surface. I suspect that public toilet door knobs are not competely smooth, but cracked, chipped, and not generally cleaned in hot water that regularly and are not dry for much of the time. take tescos for eg, how many women go in and out of that toilet in an hour, they don't all wash their hands and they certainly don't all stand under the dryer until their hands are completely dry. Thus the knob is nearly always damp/wet. bacteria can grown in water.

however, things in the dishwasher come out very clean and hygenic as they are dried quickly at high temp and come out dry and stay dry. I haven not steralised my baby's bottle in a steraliser since she was about 12 weeks old (and with my others I haven't steralised at all, the only reason I did with her is because she was a preemie and quite poorly for a while). She has a fantastic immune system and rarely catches anything as they all don't. The dishwasher is sufficient because things are washed and dried at a very high temp.

My friends daughter, washes her kids anywayupcups in hot water and then stands them on pieces of kitchen towel to make sure they dry quickly....She also has been known to do this with other kitchen items....I think it is a tad unnecessary.

[Peter Pedant]

clean and dry

yes i think I would agree that a clean and dry surface would have fewer bacteria than a clean and wet surface and any dirty surface.

[David H]

I'll clarify that if a dry object has germs on, it's not meant to be that easy to transfer them onto dry hands or objects. If however you lick them (I know a story from Italy about cholera) you then release the germs to cross over. Therefore it implies if you touch a dry toilet seat or the like with dry hands there's no medium to pass the germs back to your hand. It makes sense to me but the public health ads show people touching all sorts of things and leaving luminous fingerprints. Of course it's better not to touch anything with dirty hands but this is the real world...

[lady_p_gold]

But perhaps someone could explain how they say that BSE can still stay on sterilised medical equipment ????

[dannydingbat]

I know its a virus and not bacteria but many cruise ships have been affected by Norwalk or Norovirus. It can be picked up by touching infected handrails and lift buttons as it is airborne and settles on dry surfaces.

[Dr P]

Lady P Gold - BSE isnt a bacterium or virus, its what's called a prion. These are very strange things and there's lots of things we dont yet know about them. They are proteins, and not a living creature in the usual sense.

David H - its not easy to transfer them, but its possible. It depends on the organism and the conditions it needs to survive. Some microorganisms (germs) can sort of "hibernate" when the conditions arent as they like, and then "wake up" and reproduce when the environment changes to suit them.

Its always a good idea to wash your hands!

[Kingaroo]

David, I think you're right that if the toilet seat is dry and so is your skin, that you are less likely to pick up germs than if either is damp. Keep in mind though that even clean dry healthy unbroken skin has some oils on it, so bacteria and viruses could attach to that.

In my house the rule was: if you drop a nice dry cookie on the floor, you can still eat it, but if you drop a banana, you have to throw it away.

[David H]

Thanks everyone, good to see a real doctor here, if anyone knows I'm a counsellor and often try and help out with personal problems, as I enjoy it and am only too happy to help out.

I remember on the recent programme about filthy people they tested toothbrushes etc., and said the germs on them usually die off after a couple of days disuse. Presumably that means after a while the surfaces become less active anyway after any muck has been deposited on it.

I think you may mean MRSA lady p gold, which would fit into this question very well if survives such conditions.