It must be very difficult for some people to participate in a card game, even more so when money changes hands.
Flesh-Eating Bacteria
- Thread starter Beach Runner
- Start date
-
Trouble logging in? Send us a message with your username and/or email address for help.
As kids we were always playing in the dirt, walking barefoot, and yes we camped. I never use hand sanitizers, and don't even have them in the house. I think walking barefoot in the gym showers seems like as good a way to pick up germs as anything. I've heard the body should be exposed to a certain amount of bacteria just to give the immune system something to do. I've also heard that the increase in food sensitivities and allergies may be due to the fact that in the absence of germs, the body 's immune system may treat harmless substances a pathogens.
I have always held to the belief that the more "bugs" you are subjected to as a youth, the more immunity your body builds up. I know this isn't a scientific "fact", but more a general wisdom that has been handed down through the years. There are things that you have to use instincts to navigate through. This is one of them. I've read that there are pathogens in the sand as well as the ocean, but hand sanitizer is hardly a strategy that is going to hold up against the forces of nature. It seems far more important to assimilate oneself into the wide dirty world than to try to wipe it away with chemicals.
My nephew walked barefoot in the gym shower at a high school in GA, picked up a flesh-eating bacteria, and had to have part of his heel cut off.
Lady D, you're fine if you follow the Louisiana guidelines and don't have the health conditions that are mentioned in one of my posts.
As soon as my skin heals from the results of being treated for MRSA (like dermatitis from having to bathe in Clorox every day), I'll be getting back into the Gulf. I have a follow-up appointment on Monday with my dermatologist who specializes in infectious disease. I'll ask him about all of this.
It's like I know that I could get hurt driving a car, but I like being able to be independent and drive wherever I want. That being said, I try to drive as carefully as possible.
My advice (retired pharmacist) is to use common sense. Open wounds are the biggest risk factor and therefore if you have one I would limit my exposure (gyms, lakes, rivers, bay, ocean) to known carriers of these germs. It is true that our immune system's purpose in life is to protect us from these germs and therefore early exposure to pathogens is important. We also have a brain that should be another line of defense (common sense). Our immune system can be affected by medication, disease and lack of exposure to pathogens (this is really hard to do). Therefore it is very wise to pay attention to open wounds. I was fishing in the bay last week and caught a bunch of catfish in a seine net. The spines of those things stuck me multiple times with one going very deep. Dilemma: should I go to the doctor and have an antibiotic prescribed for prevention or do I just monitor the wound for swelling and redness and pain. I chose the latter but I was not stupid and paid very close attention to the wound. As a society in general we overuse antibiotics because we think that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure however the immune system would not be very effective if we go overboard with prevention (limiting activities because of being afraid of germs). BR is not saying that she does this only that she is engaging her brain to minimize risk.
That is exhausting to read. The crazy thing is that doing all that didn't prevent you from still getting a MRSA infection. I think I'll stick to my own reasonable (to me ) clean method and take my chances! That includes swimming in the gulf!
That's just because I didn't know that staph on the dry pads of a fixed-weight machine at the gym could pass through my athletic clothing onto my skin, and then infect me. No one else I've talked to knew that except for a few M.D.s.
My lesions were exactly where my body touched these pads, and these parts of my body were covered with athletic clothing.
The first dermatologist I went to commented that I had an odd pattern of lesions -- just on my back, chest, abdomen, and bottom -- not on my legs or arms or sides, etc. Then after I left the office I figured out that was exactly where my clothing touched the equipment. I called him back, and he asked me to see him the next day.
BTW doing these things is not nearly as exhausting as having a MRSA. I had to wash all bed linens (including duvets, pillows, etc.) and clean all of the upholstery and wash all of my clothes. My husband and I weren't allowed to sleep in the same bed. I had to wash the bed linens on my bed every day. I could only use a towel once and then have to wash it. I had to launder my clothing after each use. I had to soak in a Clorox bath 20 minutes a day. I had to shower in Hibiclens. I could go on and on. So that's why I am so proactive about protecting myself as much as possible. When I go to a restaurant, do I know how clean the dishes are, what sanitary practices are used in the kitchen, etc.? No. I just do whatever I can think of to prevent staph again.
My biggest pet peeve is when a medical professional washes his/her hands, puts on gloves, touches something that's not sterile, and then starts to touch me. I tell them that they need to take off the gloves and wash their hands again. They typically say, "I did that." And I'll say, "Yes, but you touched something non-sterile. You are protected from me, but I'm not protected from what you've touched." And how many times have I been to a Subway where an employee will wash their hands, put on gloves, realize they're out of some ingredient, open the refrigerator door to get that ingredient, and then proceed to make my sandwich. I'll ask them to throw away the sandwich, wash their hands, and put on a new pair of gloves. Of course they'll ask why, and I'll tell them that they touched a refrigerator door handle that is not sterile and then touched my sandwich. This is pretty important at a place like Subway when the food isn't cooked after handling. Argh!
Last edited:
What a crazy scare monger title. I have a better chance of getting killed in an accident than contacting a flesh eating bacteria. i was in the hospital 123 days 2 yrs ago and would have had 100 times better chance of contacting mersa than a flesheating disease. what 25 million people get in the gulf a yr? how many get a flesh eating bacteria? 10? 20 ? even 40? what % is that .0000000000000000012. Enjoy life and don't sweat little things
Overuse of hand sanitizer and germ hysteria is severely hurting this generation of kids.
Some germs are good and being exposed to lots of them improves our resistance to disease and sickness.
Obviously you should always wash your hands after using the bathroom and before preparing or eating food, but too much disinfectant is as bad as not enough.
Some germs are good and being exposed to lots of them improves our resistance to disease and sickness.
Obviously you should always wash your hands after using the bathroom and before preparing or eating food, but too much disinfectant is as bad as not enough.