Balanced Immune Health

Kissing Oscar Wilde’s tombstone, Paris

We’re hearing it all over the airwaves, the Web world, the blogosphere and any other space not yet occupied by some media news stream. This fall will be the beginning of a more virulent, morphed seasonal crud strain that will spread far and wide.  Many information sites will offer up news you can use on how to avoid this crud. Many tips are just common sense and do not need a lot of analysis or peer review to realize they are probably on the mark. (Some, such as working to achieve immune balance, are both common sense and backed with good science).

John Tesh — not exactly a Nobel immunology candidate but a common sense guy nonetheless — offers up the ” 5 germiest things” people come into contact with (in descending order, from bad to worst):

5 – Movie theater seats which have more germs than public bathroom surfaces.

4 – Gym equipment

3 – Park benches

2- Bank countertops

1 – The number 1 germiest thing: The rails and armrests on public buses.

( Wish I knew his source for these. Next time, offer up a citation, John).

Now, from Trip Advisor — again, not a health portal–comes the 5 germiest tourist attractions, as submitted by readers. These make sense, no science needed:

1. The Blarney Stone in Blarney Ireleand. (Everyone kissing the same thing seems like a no-brainer.)
2. The Gum Wall in Seattle. Multitudes sticking their gum on one wall. (Makes a school desk underside look sterile.)
3. Oscar Wilde’s tombstone, Paris. (More kissing a granite slab.)
4. St. Mark’s Square, Venice, Italy. (Pigeon dung galore.)
5. The celebrity handprint court at Grauman’s Chinese Theater, Hollywood. (Everyone puts their hands in the hand of a star.)

If anyone else out there has something they’d add to these lists, please send them my way.

Filed under Bacteria, Bacterial Environments, Balanced Immune Health, Germs, Immune Balance, Immune System, antibodies, immune