Except for really really bad bugs, I think its healthy to not be overly ridiculously clean (In a hospital where your immune system is already compromised I can see sanitizing everything), but in every day life low level exposure keeps your immune system healthy and you are always building anti-bodies to new stuff. Ergo, despite the fact I travel extensively and am exposed to all sorts of stuff I only get a cold maybe once every 4 or 5 years, whereas a friend of mine who religiously sanitizes her hands and everything around her seemingly every 5 minutes constantly has some kind of cold or flu. Also I’ve noticed throughout the years that children of parents who are germophobes and practically keep the kids hermetically sealed tend to have kids weaker and more prone to sickness than those whose parents allow their kids to roll around in the dirt all day.
Don’t expect much support, this site is loaded with obsessive-cleaniaks, as I learned a few months ago after telling them that I wash my hands about 3 times a day (unless I’m working on cars).
I frequently work in Microbiology... loaded with pathogenic stuff. My motto, while I am in good health.. what doesn’t kill me, only makes me more immune. I am more worried about genetically mod food than pathogens. If I get sick, lowering my immunity, I stay home. I am mindful of Hepatitis C however... very diligent around potential blood exposure incidences. During winter, my hands get pretty dry from washing. I agree with you about sanitizer freaks I know, sickly folks. It’s hard for me to decide which came first, the sickliness or the sanitizer baths.
That used to be called “streetcar immunity”.