Margit’s Note: Going Viral

By Margit Detweiler

My niece mashed up the word “hanitizer” when she was just five years old. I doubt she was the first, but her accidental insight was evidence that she’s growing up in a germ-obsessed world — one that includes hand sanitizer in every handbag.

As kids, we didn’t think too much about microbes while crafting our mudpies. I probably wash my hands 30 times more a day than I did then, singing “Happy Birthday” twice as I go. The five-second rule, however, still holds strong.

Now germs are hotly debated. They are gross and dangerous; really, really good for us; or all of the above. We’re witnessing the rise of mega-bugs. We have a few good reasons not to go in the pool. And we’ve learned how your gut bacteria may even affect your mood.

But while we’re not exactly licking the subway floor for added resistance, neither are we living in a head-to-toe body bubble (yes, that was a nod to John Travolta). We live somewhere in between.

This week we’re killin’ em on contact:

• Julie wonders if it’s bacterial, fungal or viral
• Sara regrets the street meat
• Jennifer has travel tips for the sick
• Tamar survives life as a germaphobe
• Annette wants her germs back

Washing my hands,

Margit