Too Sanitized?

One possibility that we must consider with the listeriosis bacteria, which was found in several meat products, is the human capacity to withstand bacteria. Apparently listeriosis can infect meat on more occasions than we, the public, imagine. The news reports did note that the more common victims are the elderly and the very young children with lower immune systems. Is it possible this bacteria could have been inconsequential to the human immune system and that we have just created problem #3? (look at my previous 2 blogs for reasons 1 and 2)

Problem #3 would be our constant desire to sanitize everything to the point of ridiculousness. We use anti-bacterial soap, we wash everything more frequently than other cultures and as soon as we have the slightest sniffle, we pop some type of antibiotic. Our immune system relies upon the world in being very clean and relies upon the boost to fight off any infection. Teach a child to rely on crutches when he has two normal legs and he will not have the proper strength to walk on his own power. Our immune system may have similar strengths and weaknesses. If our immune system is weak through "laziness", then we can succumb to diseases, viruses and bacteria much easier.

Does it not seem interesting that each generation of our society seems to develop more allergies to various normal items? Now I don't want to look at how pollution can be the culprit and I don't want to look at how some diseases seem to evolve into better versions of themselves; both do have their part in the equation. I just think that the focus should be to compare our society of hyper cleanliness with other societies that put less stress on the cleaning scale and see if A) they get less allergies and B) if they withstand things like listeriosis better than us. Our current listeriosis scare may have been less dangerous to us as a society if we had been less "clean-freaks".

I agree that cleanliness has avoided many diseases, and this is something to keep in our daily practice. Physicians will obviously keep cleaning their hands to avoid the spread of germs from one patient to another, and hospitals can probably end up being cleaner places. I am more focused upon the exagerated cleanliness, using regular soap instead of the anti-bacterial ones. Allowing a child to play with local pets or playing out in the field instead of cocooning the child to avoid all possible germs or allergies. If you are sick, take the time to rest and recuperate instead of panicking and believing you have the worse possible disease and then be prescribed an antibiotic like it was candy.

Being clean is great, but lets keep it in perspective; never taking a bath is foolish, but taking a bath every 3 hours is just as foolish. If our society is closer to the second extreme in this metaphorical taking of baths, it may have contributed to the unfortunate deaths. If that is the case, we should rectify this. Else, we will succumb to things that we shouldn't have to.