成人头条

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When we get sick during the cold and flu season, we blame it on germs, and why not? They're everywhere. But germs may be getting a bad rap, according to Fawn Beckman, a biology lab technician and germ expert at 成人头条.

Beckman: "Well, germs in general, these are things that we're surrounded by every day. And we're constantly covered in them. There are good germs and bad germs. We are colonized by good germs and we need them. It helps protect us from the bad and, of course, the bad we are picking up as we go along."

As you touch people, surfaces and objects throughout the day, you accumulate germs on your hands. In turn, you can infect yourself with these germs by touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Fortunately, not every bad germ makes us sick, as Beckman explains.

Beckman: "Not every germ is going to be a bad germ, and just like that not every bad germ is going to make us sick. We have immune systems that were built specifically to help protect us from becoming ill and eventually dying from the bad germs, so we can come in contact with a lot of bad germs we wouldn't even realize and our immune system would take care of it."

However, Beckman says sometimes germs will get the best of us, resulting in a cold or the flu.

"The reason that the bad germs can make us sick is just from having a larger number of them enter our bodies than what we're used to dealing with. Our immune system takes time to kick in. And also if we have a germ that is going to be one that our immune system hasn't really encountered that often before, it's going to take our bodies longer to deal with it."

Beckman says washing our hands with soap and water is still the most effective way to remove bad germs.

Beckman: "By washing our hands we are removing the bad germs that we're picking up from our environment and from other people. And so that just minimizes our chance that we will become sick. The less germs that we have that we pick up that are bad, the better off we're going to be."

CBS News recently reported that sales of hand sanitizer jumped more than 40 percent since the H1N1 flu virus began spreading across the country. Millions of people are reaching for hand sanitizers at work, in restaurants or anywhere on the go. But Beckman says hand sanitizers aren't as effective as soap and water.

Beckman: "Soap and water is always going to be the way you want to go if you have that available to wash your hands. It is a highly effective way of removing those bad germs from your skin. Hand sanitizers are good to use in a pinch if you, say, don't have soap and water available. That is the No. 1 reason you'd want to use a hand sanitizer."

Beckman explains why hand sanitizers aren't the best method of cleaning your hands.

Beckman: "If you ever use the hand sanitizers, what ends up happening is that you can end up actually damaging your good bacteria. And by causing damage to that, that leaves you more vulnerable to the bad bacteria to have access to you to make you sick."

Barbara Almanza, associate professor of restaurant, hotel, institutional and tourism management at Purdue University, says, "In terms of the regulations regarding food services, the Food and Drug Administration says hand sanitizers may be used as a supplement but not as a substitute for hand-washing. By the same token, people should not use hand sanitizers in place of a good lathering with soap and water if it's available."

Thanks for listening. Until next time, this is Joe Kleinsasser for 成人头条.