Attention Germ Phobes.........

[Nicoleclaw]

Good grief. That is kooky.

I doubt you'd find many people who would agree with you, given the choices you list.

David

Sorry, I TOTALLY agree with her!

 

[Candikayne]

Lets see who is the worst germ phobe ever!!! My and my sister were just talking and when I told her that I wanted to bring some foam soap to the parks with me so I could wash my kids hands with foam soap and bottled water to avoid the public bathrooms, she wanted me to be commited!!! With all this talk of the "ultimate stomach bug" down there I'm freaking out! I also make my kids wear their winter gloves here at home anywhere we go to keep their hands clean. Now let me tell you a little secret about her.....she refuses to brush her teeth and use the sink water, she uses bottled water instead. She also refuses to sleep in the bed and will choose the couch instead at the hotel.
We both bring our own sheets too...... There is a reason behind that one. Let me know if you want to hear it!
Who is the bigger germ phobe????? Looking forward to hearing better germ phobe actions!!!!
Thanks

Did you see this story?http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail?contentId=5062255&version=3&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=1.1.1

 

[Nicoleclaw]

I personally think it is wise to try to keep germs away on vacation. Especially when you pay so much $$, you don't want to end up in the hospital dehydrated! I can handle a little cold, you can go to the parks with that...but who wants to take turns puking? My kids get exposed to PLENTY of germs at daycare and school. If I can moderate that a little by making sure they wash up before eating, that makes me happy! JMO!

 

[chager]

I used to have issues with vomiting, but have now overcome them. I have not kept too much food in me since Nov. Through experimentation I have learned which foods I can eat and which send me straight to the bathroom though. I have also learned which foods like to come out which way! I have started eating based on what I don't mind seeing again! I have noticed things have been better the last couple of days though! I have decided I want this virus named after me though since they can't find a reason I am sick.
As far as vacations go, I am not much of a germophob. I do carry hand sanitazier but that is mostly in case we touch something really gross, our hands get dirty, or we are grabbing a snack AND there is no place nearby to use good ole soap and water. (Oh hand sanitizer is excellent for getting ink and marker of clothing or stuffed animals too!!)
I am not saying there are places we have stayed that haven't freaked me out though! One family owned place in Tn was given rave reviews on a trip forum, but when we got there it was the SCARIEST place I have ever been in. It was late so we stayed the first night, never undressed (including shoes), did not sleep really, and checked out early the next morning!! It would have been a germophob's undoing being as it seriously grossed us out!! We even put our suitcases back in the car the rest of the night! After switching to another place in the morning, we immediately showered and then I went to a laundromat and washed EVERYTHING that had any contact with anything in the room!! (Except our shoes, I figure they come in contact with nasties every day. ) I am STILL seeing people give this place great reviews. All I can say is their rooms must have been way different! The very first thing we noticed when we entered the room was that in order to shut the bathroom door you had to stand IN the bathtub!! We actually forgot to take pics becuase we were in such shock!

 

[Tiggernut_jadie]

I think there is a world of difference in 'making sure they wash up before eating' and some of the extremes that people go to on here. The former is good hygiene and makes perfect sense, the latter is well on the way to OCD....

 

[Nicoleclaw]

Well, I do use some hand sanitizer after letting them go in that germ infested kiddie playground at the mall....or a shopping cart...
Actually, I am starting to think I clean them alot....lol....I did wipe down some surfaces at our hotel recently....hehe....but the little guy has asthma and EVERYTIME he gets a cold, he ends up wheezing, even with being on Pulmacort and Singulair. But he gets exposed to plenty of germy germs at daycare. DD had constant ear and sinus infections from 6 mo (daycare started) till about 3/3 and half ish. Actually, she did not have them over the summers when she is home since I am a teacher, so it really proved it was germs at daycare and not needing tubes or something. She hasn't missed a day of kindergarten though! Knock on wood!

 

[ShannonMB]

Interestingly several of the non-germaphobes are nurses - as am I! Whilst I follow precautions at work, due to coming in contact with immuno-suppressed people, I also know that 'normal' people don't need to bathe in purell to prevent illness. What they need to do is expose their bodies to germs in order to build up anti-bodies.

Another nurse who agrees.

I'm not trying to sound condescending, honestly. But I really feel sorry for you germophobes. What a crippling situation, being terrified of little microscopic things you can't see! They are EVERYWHERE, and there's nothing you can do about it that works any better than normal hygiene. You actually had me going for a minute, I was going to wipe down the airplane trays before using them. Then I thought, how can it be any worse than what I will be touching when I'm in the parks? The bottom line is, unless you are going to wear a hazmat suit everywhere you go, you WILL be in contact with germs. The more you try to fight it, the worse off you probably are.

Take what precautions you feel are necessary for your family, but understand that you probably aren't going to stay any healthier than those of us who just wash our hands.

 

[SueM in MN]

Once when I visited the doctor, while he washed his hands he explained to me that the best thing to always do is to soap up and wash the faucet handles with your soapy hands as you wash your hands, then rinse off the faucet handles as you rinse your hands. That way you aren't contaminating your clean hands with germs from the faucet handles.

Nowadays many public sinks have automatic faucets that you don't even need to touch.

I am an RN and an Infection Prevention and Control Specialist.

Actually, your doctor is wrong and is contaminating his hands by 'cleaning' off the faucet handles.
The correct way to wash hands is to turn on the water and get your hands wet (your hands are dirty at that point, so it doesn't matter whether or not you touch the dirty handles).
After the hands are wet, put soap on and lather the soap all around the hands - it is the friction that does most of the work of cleaning the hands, not the soap itself. You should lather for at least 20 seconds (children are taught to sing a song like "Happy Birthday" and lather until the song is done).
Rinse the hands well, then use a paper towel to turn off the water faucet. That will prevent your clean hands from coming into contact with the soiled faucet handles.
This has been the way that hand washing has been taught for at least 30 years, so it's not new.

Here's a good page about hand hygiene from Mayo Clinic. It also includes information about proper use of alcohol based products.

It's how all the "super bugs" developed in hospitals......

actually the abuse of antiobiotics has caused the superbug epidemic.Being hospitalized for long periods of time increases your risk of just about everything.

The overuse and incorrect use of antibiotics caused the superbug.
Everything from people using antibiotics when not needed (like for viruses), to people not taking all their antibiotics when they did have an infection that needed antibiotics (stopping before all the antibiotics are finished allows some of the more 'hardy' germs to survive) to giving low doses of antibiotics to animals to prevent illness (low doses of antibiotics to chicken and turkey can prevent them from becoming ill, but the bacteria that are left are more resistant).
Another factor is the antibacterial soaps/other products (NOT ALCOHOL Based products). The antibacterial products kill germs in a similar way to how antibiotics work, so they germs can become antibiotic resistant without ever having been exposed to antibiotics. Alcohol kills germs in a much different way, has been in use for many years and has never been associated with increasing resistant organisms.

Actually in the case of C Dif and the Norovirus - two of the bugs most likely to 'send you to the ER requiring fluids to keep you from dying' - the bug is not killed with lysol or purell etc....just good old soap and water!

ETA: Just realised other people have mentioned this already!

What is not killed is the spores of C. difficile. Soap and water don't kill the spores either, but the friction during hand washing loosens the spores and rinsing of hands after washing them rinses the spores off the hands and down the sink.
Hands should be washed after using the toilet, but the alcohol based products have been useful in stopping the spread of Norovirus in environments like cruise ships. Hand hygiene with alcohol products is a good addition when sinks are not readily available and/or people are not washing their hands as often as they should.
Even if either hand washing or alcohol don't kill all the germs, they do lower the number of organisms on the hands. That is always a good thing.

 

[drew2wdw]

I am an RN and an Infection Prevention and Control Specialist.


Hands should be washed after using the toilet, but the alcohol based products have been useful in stopping the spread of Norovirus in environments like cruise ships. Hand hygiene with alcohol products is a good addition when sinks are not readily available and/or people are not washing their hands as often as they should.

Hi Sue! Thanks for your comments and links. Since you're in the field of Infection Prevention & Control, I do have a question for you... It is my understanding that alcohol based products aren't really effective against Norovirus (or any of the viruses in the "non-enveloped" category) Is this accurate? I rely mainly on good handwashing practices to keep our family healthy, but like others, carry a bottle of hand sanitizer for situations when handwashing isn't practical. However since, at least while at Disney, Norovirus is what I'm most concerned about, I wonder if there is a different type of hand sanitizer that I should be on the lookout for?

Thanks in advance!!!

 

[SueM in MN]

Hi Sue! Thanks for your comments and links. Since you're in the field of Infection Prevention & Control, I do have a question for you... It is my understanding that alcohol based products aren't really effective against Norovirus (or any of the viruses in the "non-enveloped" category) Is this accurate? I rely mainly on good handwashing practices to keep our family healthy, but like others, carry a bottle of hand sanitizer for situations when handwashing isn't practical. However since, at least while at Disney, Norovirus is what I'm most concerned about, I wonder if there is a different type of hand sanitizer that I should be on the lookout for?

Thanks in advance!!!

No.
Use alcohol with at least 61 % alcohol as the active ingredient.
one thing to keep in mind about alcohol is that it is a disinfectant, not a cleaner. If your hands are visibly soiled, you need to wash the soil off because alcohol won't remove it. And, alcohol is deactivated by contact with protein (not to get graphic, but that is one of the reasons it does not work well against Norovirus if the hands have been contaminated with stool).
After washing, you can use alcohol to further disinfect. Wipes (even alcohol containing wipes) don't do a good job because they are not wet enough.

Even though alcohol is not especially effective against Norovirus, the cruise ships have 'forced' use of alcohol hand sanitizer when people come into areas like the dining room/restaurants. Doing that has been one of the tools (just one of a number of things done) that have helped to prevent transmission. Even though washing with soap and water may be best, sinks are not always available, so then you need to turn to other strategies.

One thing to keep in mind is that germs on your hands are not going to cause any problem - it's germs getting into your body that can cause an infection. So, teach the kids not to put things (including their hands into their mouths) and always clean hands before eating, drinking and doing anything that puts the hands into contact with the mouth (or anything the hands touch, including cigarettes for smokers - but don't use alcohol before smoking ) .
That's where the Norovirus germs want to get to, so don't help them on their way.

 

[disneylvr11]

I'm not a germ freak or anything but at the parks I do take a little more caution then usual.
We use germ-x after every ride and right before eating

We use bottled water instead of water fountains

Sometimes (If I remember) I wipe down anything that has been in someone elses hand; like after a character signs an autograph for my children, I clean the pen with a clorox wipe.

If we're staying the night at a hotel, which only happens once a year, we aren't as strict on germs.
We bring our own pillows and blankets

I wipe down door handles, remotes, toilet handle, etc.

Am I a nutcase?

 

[NEVERENOUGHWDW]

Great info. Sue!!!!

I do have to say some posts are a little nerve racking especially when the "germaphobe" issue is being passed onto children.
I know we have had some fun with this thread but I would suggest the idea that some antidepressants do help with severe OCD....& there have been some serious examples of OCD on here.
Folks, life is just to short to be so obsessed with an issue you can seek help/counsel for.......
Just some food for thought.

 

[wagster92]

I have one thing to say..... it's DISNEY!! Relax! Trust me I've had my own experiences with a bug from Disney but I never get them a second time!

 

[RMulieri]

Thanks Sue for chiming in...

 

[gardener14]

I am an RN and an Infection Prevention and Control Specialist.

Actually, your doctor is wrong and is contaminating his hands by 'cleaning' off the faucet handles.
The correct way to wash hands is to turn on the water and get your hands wet (your hands are dirty at that point, so it doesn't matter whether or not you touch the dirty handles).
After the hands are wet, put soap on and lather the soap all around the hands - it is the friction that does most of the work of cleaning the hands, not the soap itself. You should lather for at least 20 seconds (children are taught to sing a song like "Happy Birthday" and lather until the song is done).
Rinse the hands well, then use a paper towel to turn off the water faucet. That will prevent your clean hands from coming into contact with the soiled faucet handles.
This has been the way that hand washing has been taught for at least 30 years, so it's not new.

Here's a good page about hand hygiene from Mayo Clinic. It also includes information about proper use of alcohol based products.

Being the one who originally posted the comment about washing faucet handles while washing hands, I want to thank you for passing along your knowledge. I was only repeating what a doctor casually told me as he washed during an office visit almost ten years ago, but I believe and trust your correction. The only problem with the ideal hand washing method you present is that many public sinks do not have paper towels available...they have hand dryers.

 

[Traveliz]

I'm starting to freak out because we will be taking our DS who will be 9 months when we go and he just started crawling everywhere. I am at a loss as to what to do to keep him off the nasty carpet?!

Any suggestions?

Don't worry about it - I saw a baby crawling on the floor at the Hospitality House at OKW when I was checking in and another one crawling in the lobby at Movies when I checked out.

Babies do that - it happens.

Liz

 

[Nicoleclaw]

I should have mentioned before that part of the reason I wiped down some of our hotel (not at Disney) last time was that there was glop on the handle of the refrigerator. Another reason I do like to wipe my kids down occasionally lol is that they both have food allergies, one to nuts. So although I am not a fan of germs, the allergies sometimes drive me to be alittle more cautious.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

We aren't too bad.

We wash hands frequently with soap and water - I know DD9 does it correctly but since DS13 gets more colds I'm sure he doesn't.

I won't drink or allow the kids to drink from glass cups or use the coffee pot in the room.

I wipe down door knobs, drawer knobs, bathroom and shower knobs and the remote with clorox wipes. I also added wiping down any lamp switches in Nov. 08.

I lysol and fabreeze bedding (but most of that is because I think hotel bedding smells wierd) and check for bedbugs.

We stay at hotels a few times a year and haven't had any issues so far. It only takes about 10 - 15 minutes to do all of this so it's easy for me.

Now one of my sisters - well she won't stay at hotels at all if she can avoid it. She thinks they are gross and full of germs. She throughly cleans the bathrooms and changes all bedding to her own and doesn't allow anyone in to clean when she stays in one. She just asks for new towels and empty garbage bags and takes care of everything herself. She won't eat the "free" breakfasts if she can't microwave the food herself to kill the extra germs. She won't eat at buffets - ever - because of other folks germs near the food. I'm not fond of them either but I do eat at them at Disney.

She and her husband have an RV and try to use that everywhere they travel now to avoid hotels.

 

[Csaks]

Wow, this thread is an eye opener for sure. To be that obsessed by something you can't do much about is just wild. The body is designed to fight germs and to do that it needs exposure to them. Isn't that what the theory of a flu shot is based on?

Think of all the things you touch in a day, railings, counter tops, handles, glass, merchandise etc. etc. etc. Seems like a lot of worrying over something you can't control. Unless you plan on carrying a back pack full of wipes with you everywhere .

If your room is disgusting have it re-cleaned or get another one, that you can control. If a buffet looks a little un sanitary walk way, that you can control. Washing your hands before you eat is another thing you can control.

How do you guys have any fun .

 

[Nicoleclaw]

How do you guys have any fun .

Hey, maybe this is how we have fun! lol