Good point as you don't know where that hand has been ...good suggestion on carrying hand sanitizer solution with you....we could all just blow a kiss in the air for that matter...could be a whole new social sign of acceptance and agreement between 2 parties..BD
Scientists from the London School of Hygiene say a quick "air kiss" on the cheek is a relatively-germ free affair when compared to a hand-shake.
They say regardless how clean your hands may be there is no guarantee that the other person maintains the same standards of personal hygiene and hands are critical in the chain of infection. Infections from surfaces to people and between people are carried on the hands and with some of the quite nasty bugs currently circulating a quick rinse under cold water is just not enough to combat them.
Many people acquire infections after touching someone else's hands and they might have been better served by a quick peck on the cheek. Experts recommend that people carry an alcohol-based hand sanitizer for when it is not possible to access a sink; otherwise washing the hands rigorously with soap and water is enough to keep the hands relatively bug free.
In the study of hand hygiene the researchers led by Professor Sally Bloomfield, say though shaking hands is the main form of physical contact you have no knowledge of what the other person has been touching before you greet them.
Norovirus infections:
ReplyDeleteTriggered off by drinking water in the run-up to limited secondary spread from human to human
The cold is the main factor to conserve virulent viruses e.g. in water.
Norovirus can spread through:
- contact with infected persons at 37°C
- contact with surfaces or objects in [heated] houses at 20°C
- eating contaminated food with over the year constant temperatures
- drinking contaminated water with over the year changing temperatures from 20°C to 3°C.
Half of norovirus infections occur in expanse without recognized clusters. Norovirus infections occur general strong seasonal in the cold dependent on environmental temperatures [water, soil, drinking water pipes]. There must be an abiotic vehicel like drinking water that changes its temperature in the cold. Norovirus infections exact start and finish at water pipe temperatures of 15°C. So I'm convinced that norovirus infections mainly are triggered off by drinking water in the run-up to limited secondary spread from human to human.
There is no other appropriate vehicel changing its temperature over the year to explain the strong seasonal norovirus epidemics in the cold.
In temperate climates the strong seasonal waterborne infections like norovirus, rotavirus, salmonellae and campylobacter are mainly triggered off by drinking water dependent on the drinking water temperature (in Germany minimum temperature february/march: important to viruses like norovirus and rotavirus - maximum temperature august: important to bacteria like salmonellae and campylobacter). Norovirus (and rotavirus, salmonellae, campylobacter) infections are triggered off by feces in food or in drinking water. The year over food temperature don’t change in contrast to drinking water temperature. Logical norovirus infections have to be triggered off by contaminated drinking water in the run-up to limited secondary spread from human to human.
The performance to eliminate viruses from the drinking water processing plants regularly does not meet the requirements of the WHO and the USA/USEPA. Conventional disinfection procedures are poor, because microorganisms in the water are not in suspension, but embedded in particles. Conventional disinfection procedures (chlorine, ozon) are less effective in the cold. Even ground water used for drinking water is not free from viruses.
Dipl.-Ing. Wilfried Soddemann
Free Science Journalist
soddemann-aachen@t-online.de
http://www.dugi-ev.de/information.html
Epidemiological analysis:
http://www.dugi-ev.de/TW_INFEKTIONEN_H5N1_20071019.pdf
Extracts from the specialized literature:
http://www.springerlink.com/content/x6138263qn388085/
Bundesgesundheitsblatt - Gesundheitsforschung - Gesundheitsschutz
Volume 50, Number 3 / März 2007
K. Botzenhart
Konrad.Botzenhart@uni-tuebingen.de
Institut für Medizinische Mikrobiologie und Hygiene, Tübingen, BRD Institut für Medizinische Mikrobiologie und Hygiene, Wilhelmstraße 31, 72074 Tübingen, BRD
Viruses in drinking water
Abstract
Viruses in drinking water can cause infectious diseases. In the past, hepatitis A and E were the most frequently observed drinking- water-borne viral infections, but in recent years several small- and large-scale norovirus epidemics have been described, even in Europe. All virus species spread via drinking water are of fecal origin. They are regularly identified in waste water even after conventional multi-stage water treatment. The approved disinfection methods can cope with these viruses if they are not integrated in larger particles. For this reason particle separation is particularly important in water treatment. Virological tests are not reliable enough to ensure that drinking water is sufficiently virus-free. The examination of 100 mL of water for E. coli and coliform bacteria is not adequate proof either. If potentially contaminated raw water is used, consumer safety must be ensured by calculating the performance of water treatment plants on a case-by-case basis. Such a calculation takes into account the virus load of the raw water, the efficiency of the physical and chemical particle elimination steps and the effect of disinfection. Those factors which determine the effectiveness of disinfection, namely concentration and exposure time or UV radiation strength, must be adjusted according to the risk of viral infection, and calculated settings must be adhered to, even if favorable E. coli levels may make them seem excessive.
Keywords: Drinking water, Viruses, Disinfection, Particle elimination,
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/EID/vol11no11/05-0487.htm
Emerg Infect Dis [serial on the Internet]. 2005 Nov.
Maunula L, Miettinen IT, von Bonsdorff C-H.
Norovirus outbreaks from drinking water.
Abstract
As part of an intensified monitoring program for foodborne disease outbreaks in Finland, waterborne outbreaks were investigated for viruses. The diagnostic procedure included analysis of patients' stool samples by electron microscopy and reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for noroviruses and astroviruses. When these test results were positive for a virus, the water sample was analyzed. Virus concentration was based on positively charged filters from 1-L samples. Of the total 41 waterborne outbreaks reported during the observation period (1998–2003), samples from 28 outbreaks were available for analysis. As judged by RT-PCR results from patient samples, noroviruses caused 18 outbreaks. In 10 outbreaks, the water sample also yielded a norovirus. In all but 1 instance, the amplicon sequence was identical to that recovered from the patients. The ubiquity of waterborne norovirus outbreaks calls for measures to monitor water for viruses.
Thank you for the detailed information and if I am reading this correctly, we should also be cautious of the water we drink as well?
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