The Penn State plague has hit me hard. Over the past month, I’ve had bronchitis, a sinus infection, and a double ear infection. The first antibiotics the doctor put me on didn’t work, so he prescribed me something stronger. I am seven days into my new antibiotic, and I am still blowing my nose every few minutes, and the glands on my neck are the size of golf balls. Why am I not getting better?
I wash my hands constantly, but does that really stop the germs? One study from The Atlantic shows that there is only a small difference between washing your hands with water versus water and soap, and soap itself can even be contaminated with germs. Soap also does not kill viruses as successfully as it kills bacteria because soap molecules have proteins rather than lipids, and proteins cannot dissolve the capsid or membrane of the virus. This could explain why the antibiotics aren’t helping, because they kill bacteria, not viruses, and bacteria is already killed by the soap. Along with that unfortunate factor, I also have to touch door knobs and other germ-filled areas when I leave the bathroom.
I have an extremely nasty habit: I bite my nails. After reading the last paragraph, you can see why that is bad for my health. The viruses get into my body through my mouth from my fingers (that’s so gross, I know!). It is a terrible habit that needs to be kicked right away if I want to get better, but It is hard to just suddenly stop a habit you have had for over a decade.
Another aspect of my germ-receiving comes from the air. All of my classes have over 300 students, so the air is gross to say the least. Coughs, sneezes, and any sort of breathing adds germs to the air, and they all circulate around the sometimes hot classroom. One sneeze contains 10,000 bacteria. If one third of just one of my classes sneezes during a lecture, there will be 1,000,000 bacteria in the room. How do you even avoid that? Hopefully at least some of those people would use a tissue.
I feel bad going to class when I am sick, because I add to those germs, but there are precautions to avoid getting other people sick. I always wash my hands, use tissues when I sneeze, cough into my elbow, and stay a few feet away from the people around me. Hopefully the people in my classes and in my dorm will do the same so that I can get rid of this terrible plague!
This blog made me wonder if Freshman are actually more susceptible to getting sick coming to college than upper class-men. Common sense tells me that they are because many are not living in overcrowded dorms and may have smaller classes. Also, there is a good chance that they have already been exposed to some of the germs in previous years. However, I have no concrete evidence to back this up. Also, your blog made me wonder if the old rumor that we are better off not washing out hands because it builds up our immune system is true?
I am also currently sick. I have a nasty cough and every time I cough in class I feel terrible, not just because I’m adding to the loud noises, but also because I don’t want to risk anyone else to be sick. Your topic could be researched more into why doesn’t soap kill all the bacterias or why some illnesses spread faster or better than others.