Stomach virus spreads through Boston

United Press International ^ | Jan 07, 2003 | United Press International

[GOP_1900AD]

True. I also believe it to affect viruses as well. Use it when I need to burn out a cold.

[Fred Mertz]

Thanks for the home remedy.

[AppyPappy]

I always flush public toilets with my foot - there's no way I'm touching that handle!

Shoot. I use my teeth.

[cynicalman]

OK Lets get real anal:

Hotel/Motel Rooms: probably the biggest germ holder is that TV remote: I wash it off with soap and hot water before using it.

Can you imagine those high paid motivated maids that clean the hotel rooms. I sure they dont use the same rag to clean off the nightstands and desks and remote controls that they use to clean the bathrooms, Do They????

[AppyPappy]

Get this. Serial killers tend to be obsessive/compulsive.

[SGCOS]

OK, let's go for a wrap up.

Never touch anything in a public area, and you'll be ok.

This includes stair handrails, escalator handrails, rental car steering wheels, elevator buttons, anything in a bathroom, free sample items at a store, shopping carts, anybody elses keyboard, floor models (of any type) at Home Depot, the coffee machine at work, forklift handles, previously dispensed straws at a restaurant, the community toothpick holder (right next to the straw dispenser), etc...

Oh, and never ever ever! use your tongue to flush the toilet at a bus station.

[Timesink]

I'm curious if anybody has any theories on if our immune system is getting to be less and less effective over time due to various reasons and if this is another sign. We really don't seem as hardy as our ancestors.

I know that a lot of scientists have hypothesized that the reason asthma in children is on the increase is because they're kept too sanitized as babies and their immune systems never get a proper jump start.

[k omalley]

A lot of hospitals have very punitive sick leave policies and give warnings to their employees after as few as three sick days in one year. Therefore the nurse who is taking care of you or your loved one in the hospital might very well have the stomach bug, the flu or a nasty cold. Believe me, I've seen it happen many times.

[JennysCool]

That's a comfort! :-)

[blam]

"I also do not use other co-workers telephones, keyboards or calculators."

I saw a study done about what contaminants were on the keyboards of public computers. The number one contaminant (most frequent) detected was human feces.

[mewzilla]

I won't tell you about results done on coffee paraphernlia at work. ICK.

[mewzilla]

And let's not forget hotel/motel rooms. Major ICK.

[AppyPappy]

I used to work in a motel. They are cleaner than you think. For one thing, the maids are exposed to the same but 40 times more. So they use some pretty killer chemicals.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

The very thought of Boston and Massachusetts make me wanna puke.

Well thanks for the warning. We would appreciate it if you would overcome your need to hurl if you decide to visit. We have enough trouble cleaning up the pablum puked from Beacon Hill. No need to add to it.

[Deguello]

"But in those restrooms that only have the dryer (ARRRRGHHH!!)"

About 12 years ago there was a beginning study announced for these public hot air dryers. The study was squashed.

It appears that these hot air dryers are the perfect incubator. When at a fast food place, I always grab a handfull of papper towels on the way in. I instruct my kids for the same and let them know why.

In the late 70's these hot air dryers were installed in many new school locker rooms for a full body dry-off. Result? Increase in athletes foot and in strange places of the body. I think that most have been removed by now.

[Deguello]

"Shoot. I use my teeth."

A few years ago while out walking with this old family friend, he offered some of his plug of tobacco. I asked if he rather I bit off some or pinch it off. He said bite. When I inquired why, he said that I could not scratch my a** with my teeth.

[let freedom sing]

barf alert

[GovernmentShrinker]

I'm curious if anybody has any theories on if our immune system is getting to be less and less effective over time due to various reasons and if this is another sign. We really don't seem as hardy as our ancestors.

People used to die when they got sick. Often they died before they reproduced. The incidence of lousy immune system genes in the population was kept to a minimum. Also, if people lacked the impulse control to take proper care of their health, and refrain from extreme risk-taking, they likewise often either died before reproductive age, or were socially removed from the gene pool, when their disabilities rendered them unmarriageable. Now, not only do we save people, even if they would have died several times over without high tech medical care, but there is virtually no concept in the general culture that people who are unusually prone to severe infectious illness and/or who suffer from chronic systemic illnesses, should think long and hard before reproducing. It's pretty scary to see the population get weaker and sicker, and the only response from the government and society is to advocate spending more and more money on more and more elaborate medical care (and of course, more and more taxpayer funded medical care). Of course, there's always the huge and predictable crowd screaming but "we mustn't practice EUGENICS! it's EVIL! They never seem to notice that what we're practicing now is human-directed DYSgenics.

[Nov3]

I eat raw garlic constantly. Bekieve me this stuff is unfreaking believable. It is the worst I had since the 70's

[oldironsides]

I did wash my hands. Two relatives got this Christmas eve. They thought it was the food they ate. Wrong. Every visitor got this nasty thing and for the next week 20 of us came down with it. Some visited for a short spell and left and others actually had a drink and ate. The first two feel they must have gotten it Christmas eve while shopping at a mall. It hits fast and hard. It is traveling through this area of Pennsylvania rapidly