Think about where your hands have been today—holding onto shopping carts, pushing elevator buttons, typing ATM codes and turning door-knobs. Those happen to also be the places where you’ll find the most germs and bacteria.
"Ever since I took a microbiology class, I look at the world a whole different way because you see how much bacteria is on everything that you touch," says Vanessa Hawkey as she works in Mishawaka.
"They are everywhere," explains Pathologist Dr. Bobbie Sutton, South Bend Medical Foundation. "Anything that multiple individuals can touch has the possibility to transfer even an infectious disease causing organism from one person to another."
Dr. Sutton explains that natural oils on our skin actually protect the germs and help them survive longer on other surfaces.
"Those films on
Hotel lock our hands, that are natural parts of the skin, can aid some organisms to live longer on a surface."
That’s why doctors recommend you pay extra close attention to the things you touch the most—gas pumps, yoga mats, hand railings and sink knobs.
"There's people that come in here that don't wash their hands, got contagious germs on there hands and I don't want none of that," says Betty Montgomery, as she wipes down her shopping cart at a Mishawaka grocery store.
Doctors say that's a very smart move. Bacteria can live for hours or weeks. If there’s even a slight crack on those surfaces, germs can last even longer.
"We don't put our bags on the kitchen counters. We don't put anything on the table. We put it all on the floor when we go home," says Elizabeth Miller, who is food shopping with her baby, Harrison. "We do a lot of hand-washing. We try to keep things clean. Wash things that have been dropped on the floor. Wash, wash, wash!"
Doctors say Elizabeth has the right idea. Washing your hands and using hand-sanitizers make a great difference in your safety.
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