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Your body has natural defenses to do this for you, but you can help it by washing regularly all over with warm water and soap, washing your hands after you have been to the toilet and before you eat. When in public and touching items and surfaces others have touched, avoid touching your face, eyes, nose, or mouth until after you have washed your hands again. If necessary, use waterless hand sanitizer with a minimum of 60% alcohol content.

Bacteria:
When antibiotics are used when not really necessary, they add to the problem of creating antibiotic resistant bacteria that become increasingly deadly and virulent, such as the "flesh eating bacteria". And they add unnecessary costs to an already over-priced health care system in the US. Doctors should not, but may, "give in" to your demands or strong requests for the antibiotics and give them to you unnecessarily.

If you are given antibiotics for any reason, always take them as directed and until ALL of the medicine has been used. If you stop because you are feeling better before that, you risk both contributing to the creation of resistant bacteria, as well as a recurrence of the infection once the bacteria, that were not killed but only weakened, are able to build up again to cause more symptoms.

During a bacterial infection of a wound or surgical site, be especially cautious to clean, medicate, and dress the wound as you are directed, using the precautions as you are instructed, to avoid transmission of those bacteria to others or to a different location on yourself.

Similarly, if you have an eye infection (conjunctivitis, "pink eye"), do not cross-contaminate by touching the infected eye and then the other eye. Also wash your hands frequently and avoid touching others' eyes or allowing them to touchyours without using the same precautions. Use the eye drops or ointments that you are prescribed for the infection as frequently as directed, and until the entire medication is used up, regardless of any improvement in the symptoms prior to the full use of the treatment.

Any time you use a public restroom, after washing your handsand leaving the restroom, use your sanitizer. When you touch the door handle to leave the restroom, you pick up more germs. To properly use the sanitizers to kill germs, rub your hands briskly to add friction to the process of getting rid of the microbes (this is also an important part of proper hand washing with soap and water).

Some people have recommended that you should avoid even using the public sinks and rely only on the sanitizer. This would make sense when the sink may seem less clean than your hands. Also, most people avoid using the first stall you find in the public restrooms thinking that it is the most often used, and will, therefore have the most microbes. Studies have found just the opposite, since we do avoid those, it turns out to be much less used and the cleaner choice. Judge this for yourself by looking at the size of the toilet tissue roll in that stall vs. the others and see if it doesn't seem to hold true.

If you get even a minor cut, it is good to apply an antibiotic ointment, like the triple antibiotic ointments you can get at a drug store, after thoroughly washing the injury. This prevents the bacteria that can cause serious infections from getting a foothold. Use these, if you have them, even if you do not have immediate access to soap and water to wash the injury first. Once available, use soap and water to clean the area thoroughly and apply more of the topical antibiotics.

Viruses:

If you have or someone around you has cold symptoms from a rhinovirus or influenza symptoms from a virus like A-H1N1/09 (Swine Flu), be sure to wash your hands after using tissues when you cough or sneeze or clear or wipe your nose, and wash your hands before you touch someone else or their things, so you don't spread the virus to them. If the other person is not as careful as you and you are not in a position to educate them on hygiene, then watch them closely and do not touch things they have used, or if you must, then immediately wash your handsbefore you touch your face, eyes, mouth, or nose.

Cold viruses are spread by moving microbes from one person's mouth, nose, or eyes to those of another person. This is done using our hands much more often than by airborne particles from sneezing or coughing, although that is also a mode of transmission.
Shaking hands in a business setting is an almost perfect way to assure that you pass those microbes on or take them on from someone else. Be up front and explain that you are not shaking hands that day because you do not want to share your cold with them. This will improve your business relationship, it will not harm it. It lets the other person know you care about them, you are educated about how germs are spread, and you are self-confident enough to be open and honest about your actions and the reasons for them.

If they, in contrast, offer you their hand when you know they have a cold, you can be similarly honest on why you would rather give a "virtual handshake" or a "Howie Mandel knuckle touch", in which case you may also be giving a very good lesson to them in the process. If, however, you are concerned about how that will be received, then you might try a "white lie" that you have a strained wrist or finger that makes handshaking painful, and you apologize, but are unable to do so right then. You may, while telling them that, make a physical gesture to replace the handshake by touching them on the shoulder or elbow with the opposite hand. Alternately, you might tell them that you also have a cold and don't want to add your germs to theirs. In those situations, most people are pleased with the interchange and appreciative of your interest in helping to protect them from germs.

So, frequent hand washing is your best protection from viruses. There are also antiseptic sprays that can be used on objects that are frequently touched like telephones, door knobs, and drawer and cabinet handles. See the related question below for instructions on how to wash your hands properly to remove microbes.

Do not go to the doctor and demand antibiotics for a common cold. These drugs are for bacterial infections, and they have no affect on viruses. It is only coincidental if you feel better soon after starting the antibiotics when you have a viral infection, because people usually wait until after the first four or five days of a cold to go to the doctor. It is within two to three days after that when the virus would have run its course anyway (usually 7-10 days total), and so a few days of antibiotics only seems to be doing the trick, and feeling better is pure coincidence due to the timing.

When you are coughing and sneezing with a cold or flu or respiratory bacterial infection, have tissues handy to cover your mouth and nose and then put the used tissue immediately into a trash container (not in your purse, pocket, up your sleeve, inside your blouse, or on the table or desk). If possible, put the used tissue inside a plastic bag for proper trash disposal. Use tissues only once and then throw them away. If you must cough or sneeze and you don't have tissues available, then cover your face, and especially your mouth, with your elbow by turning your face into the crook of your arm held close to your body.

Do not cough or sneeze with your mouth covered by your bare hands, that just loads your hands with a big dose of microbes to move to a place for someone else to pick them up, unless you know that you can immediately use your hand sanitizer before touching anything. Teach your children and family to follow these same precautions.

If at all possible, stay home instead of going to work, school, or out in public during the first three to five days of your cold or flu symptoms, and try to educate others to do the same. Your body needs rest and fluids to fight the microbes and you don't want to be the "Typhoid Mary" of your office or school. If more of us took this one simple precaution of staying home when sick, many microbes causing the communicable diseases would not have the ability to spread throughout the communities and could be stopped with your responsible behavior. This is a time when you, a single individual, can make a difference in the lives of many others.

Use the anti-microbial wipes available at many stores to clean the handles of the shopping cart before using it. If the store does not have these available, carry your own supply of wipes or a bottle of waterless hand sanitizer with you and use it on the cart and on your hands. Don't forget that after you check out, you often are given a different cart to carry your items to the car, one which is not cleaned prior to your use. You could use the sanitizer you have with you to clean it before touching it to push out to the car. Most stores have not considered that, and don't place the sanitizing wipes also in that location. Although that should be obvious for the reason just cited (and because the cart will now have been handled by another person, the bagger and/or checker), it is still not done. Use this opportunity to educate the store and request that they put sanitizers there for your future use. Or, use the cart and before doing anything else after touching it, use the sanitizer before even entering your car.

Some viruses, like HIV, HPV, and Herpes, also spread from sexual contact or body fluids. Use of a condom is very effective in preventing the spread of this type of virus through sex. There is a potential that the person carrying the virus is unaware of it, so never have unprotected sex unless you have both been tested negative and you are certain your partner is faithful to your relationship.

Spermicides and other methods of pregnancy prevention will not protect you from microbe transfer during sexual contact. Other microbes, like bacteria and yeasts can also be spread by sexual transmission.

If you must visit someone at the hospital, clinic, or go to the doctor's office, keep these tips in mind and be careful not to pick up other people's microbes on your hands. If you can not avoid touching the chair arms, door knobs, publicly used pens at the counter, etc., then use the sanitizer as soon as you can afterward and do not touch your face, nose, eyes or mouth in the interim.

Do not even go into a hospital unless absolutely necessary. It is not a place to visit sick friends anymore, since patients are usually much more ill while hospitalized now, and are not there for lengthy recoveries when friendly visits would have been more appreciated. Friends' visits used to be more appropriate than in this day and age. You don't want to take microbes in to the vulnerable patients or bring them home with you.

If you must be inside a hospital, use the hand sanitizersoften, and before you get into your car if possible. The hospitals have sanitizers located around the building, feel free to utilize these, they are not restricted to use by staff only. Hospitals harbor not only viruses, such as the coronavirus, which is responsible for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), a rare but deadly condition, but they also have extremely virulent and antibiotic-resistant bacteria, fungi, and other disease-producing microbes. Again, avoid transferring those to yourself with your hands.

Fungus and Yeast:
Keep skin clean and dry, especially between toes, under breasts, between legs, under arms, in folds of skin, and other areas where moisture can be trapped. Allow these areas to be open to the air for some time each day. This will help prevent fungi and yeasts. There are anti-fungal creams, ointments, and powders available to use to prevent and treat common fungal infections.

A very common fungal infection, also called yeast infection, is Thrush and is due to Candida albicans (Candidiasis) and other strains of Candida. A healthy immune system prevents infections caused by this, in most cases, since the yeast is very commonly present on the skin, and in the environment, and so a good immune system recognizes this microbe quickly, and knows just what to do to kill it.

Infants who have not yet developed their immunities, patients with HIV infections and AIDS and other immunological disorders, people on high doses of antibiotics, smokers, and diabetics are most often affected by fungal infections.

Antibiotics kill the "good bacteria". These good bacteria protect us by making conditions (such as pH changes, etc.) that are inhospitable to the yeasts. When "good bacteria" are killed along with the "bad bacteria" being treated with the antibiotics, then other kinds of infections like these can take over. (This is also why we get diarrhea when taking strong or long-term antibiotics, because the "good bacteria" in the gastrointestinal system are killed similarly.)

Quick treatment that is continued as directed, even if symptoms are eliminated or minimized, is the best protection against fungi and yeasts. If the medication directions for use are not followed properly for the frequency and duration of the treatment, then the yeast is merely weakened and not killed, and will return.

A very common manifestation of this type of microbe is a vaginal yeast infection. There can be different causes, but when the "good bacteria" normally in the vagina are disturbed, for example by excessive douches, antibiotics or other medications, hormonal problems, or even bubble baths that allow detergents to enter the vagina and kill the normal flora (bacteria), the Candida albicans yeast can get a foothold. The symptoms range from none to extreme itching, burning, and whitish discharge. Men can also get sores that are very itchy on the tip of the penis. Both partners should be promptly treated.

Babies and other immune-deficient people can get this in the mouth, which is called "Thrush". It causes burning and mouth pain, and the most obvious symptom visible is a white film or coating inside the mouth. Another group prone to this infection are those with oral piercings. Again, prompt treatment and a work up to determine if there is an unknown underlying disorder contributing to the outbreak is important.

Babies can also have a problem with the Candida yeast microbe by breastfeeding from a mother who has been treated during labor with antibiotics to prevent transmission of streptococcus B to the infant during delivery. The strep bacteria are normal in the gastrointestinal system and urogenital areas. Up to 25% of women are carriers of strep B in the vaginal area and often do not have any symptoms. If the mother has been treated and the infant is breastfeeding, the thrush can take over with the loss of the "good bacteria", due to the antibiotics that the baby got through the placenta during labor, and through the breast milk from the mother's treatment. Sometimes the babies are also treated with antibiotics after birth, if signs of strep infection in them are evident. The baby can show the thrush in the mouth and in the diaper area. Anti-fungal creams and oral swabs are used on the infant. The diaper area will need to be kept clean and dry, with exposure to the air as often as possible.

If the baby has oral thrush while breastfeeding, this can also transfer an infection in the mother on and around the nipples. Treatment includes good hygiene of the breast areas, probiotics (supplements containing "good bacteria" to replace the ones lost to the antibiotics and/or eating foods containing the "good bacteria", e.g., Lactobacillis acidophiles, such as yogurt, Sweet Acidophiles milk, etc.), and topical treatment on the nipples with anti-fungal topical medications.

Be careful when gardening to avoid breathing spores of fungi. It is not uncommon for bags of peat and other soil amendments and mulches to harbor these spores. If spreading these liberally in your garden (or potted plants), use of a surgical mask may also be of benefit to protect yourself from these microbes.

If you see large amounts of molds inside your home, especially slimy greenish-black ones, you should consider having them tested to be sure they are not the types with toxins that can cause serious disease. They can be deadly to infants and the immune-compromised (although this is rare), but more commonly are causes of asthma and bronchitis. Even if the mold is not the most troublesome black mold, Strachybotrys chartarum also called S. atra, molds in the home can be an indication of a less than healthy home.

Microscopic Animals and Parasites:
The microbes called protozoa can cause other diseases in humans. Examples are malaria, where the protists (a group of microbes) are carried by mosquitoes in tropical areas of the world (the protozoa responsible are of the genus Plasmodium: P. vivax, P. ovale, and P. falciparum). To protect from this and other mosquito-borne diseases, use a repellent containing DEET whenever exposed to mosquitoes. Also be sure to eliminate outdoors sources of standing water in your immediate vicinity, even very small amounts can allow mosquitoes to propagate.

There are products that can be safely put in large areas of water, that can not be drained, that kill mosquitoes by using a bacteria (Bacillis thuringiensis, "BT") that kills the mosquito larvae, and, according to the EPA, does not harm bees or other wildlife, only mosquitoes. It is very effective, but some beekeepers are now wondering if there may be some connection to it and to the reduction of bees to 30% of the former population in the US. So for now, encourage hummingbirds, dragonflies, bats, frogs, and other mosquito-eating animals by providing habitat and food.

Other diseases such as amoebiasis (infection by amoeba), and giardia are caused by microbes that are microscopic animals or parasites. They can be contracted from contaminated drinking water. Avoid drinking and even brushing teeth using water in countries known to have this kind of problem with their waters, or drinking from lakes or streams without sanitizing and filtering the water first.

Other microscopic animal microbes are dust mites that live among us in our homes. They are harmless, unless you have an allergy to their by-products. There are commercial products to rid them from your home, but they often require repeated treatments. You can protect from these by eliminating, as much as possible, places for them to live such as carpets, draperies, and old pillows. They live by eating our cast off dead skin cells and the dander of pets, so keeping the environment dust-free and pets well groomed will also help control these microbes. The place they are most prevalent is in your bedding. They can live through a wash on the warm or cold water cycles so the best way to eliminate them from bedding is to
wash bedding in hot water with hot water rinse.

Microscopic Plants like Algae:
The microbes that are fungus-like "microscopic plants", organisms that are like both bacteria and plants (they use photosynthesis to make their own food) include blue-green algae (Cyanobacteria). This is not exactly algae. Exposure to this, by swimming in lakes with scum or foamy looking areas and that smell "musty", or drinking contaminated water, can cause illnesses, too. Some problems associated are skin rashes and blisters after being in the water. Rinse off as soon as possible after exposure with plenty of fresh water. Drinking these in water can cause severe acute gastroenteritis with vomiting and diarrhea.

Cyanobacteria also produce toxins that can cause neurological symptoms, like numbness, dizziness, convulsions, and even death, that can occur as early as 15 minutes after exposure. Prevent dogs and pets from drinking, swimming in, and exposure to these waters as well. Observe and comply with "No Swimming" warning signs and other directions from the local Municipalities.

Keep yourself healthy to help your immune system:
Be sure to eat healthy fats and five servings of fruit and vegetables each day as part of a good diet. This will help you keep your skin in healthy condition. Don't let it get too dry or cracked from callouses. Use moisturizing creams and lotions as needed. If you are diabetic, check your feet daily for open areas and also apply lotions when needed on your feet and legs. Keep cuticles healthy to prevent entry of microbes through those openings in your skin. Maintain healthy nutrition with supplements if necessary to keep skin nourished. The skin is your first line of defense against microbes. Your immune system also requires good nutrition for it to function at its best to protect you from microbes that get past your good hygiene and other defenses.

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14y ago
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11y ago

you can get rid of microbes with anti biotics. there are three main types of microbe; fungi, bacteria and virus, you can use anti fungal cream for fungi. antiviral tablets for virus and others for bacteria

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14y ago

In hospitals there are lots of things that they do to prevent the spread of bacteria one of the main things they use is clinical gel. All of the doctors nurses and other hospital workers use this gel and any visitors are expected to do so as well before they enter the hospitals or woards, it is 70% alcohol and this kills off the bacteria.

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13y ago

microbes and viruses are sensitive to heat, if you heat them up they do weaken(that's what you get in most vaccinations) so they might die after a bit, but a surer method would be to use chemicals specially made for exterminating microbes.

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14y ago

the body has a system, called the immune system.
it operates according specific and non specific actions.
the immune response has several mechanism:
the initiation of it begins with recognizing the microbes, after recognition the immune response begins to operate and create antigens and activate cytokinse which are acting as modulators of the immune response with activating specific mechanism which proliferate several types of cells which act against the microbes as Macrophages cells activating which can swallow and degenerate via specific enzymes, or Natural killer cells, or via systematic control which is modulated via IL-1 which increase the temperature of the body which can degenerate some of the proteins of the bacteria.
the system operates with specific cells in the body floating in the circulating system the arteries and cells which are in the tissues, the white cells, degenerating aggregation and eliminating the microbes or any intruders.

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14y ago

by sterilization that means maintaining high temperature and pressure .for this an instrument AUTOCLAVE is used.

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13y ago

micro organisms can kill you by causing diseases

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10y ago

how do we get rid of microbes in our body

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Q: How do you get rid off microbes in your body?
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