Garlic fights bacteria
Posted on 15. May, 2012 by aqiumlogin in cold and flu, family, health & safety
You may not like the smell, but garlic, that bulbous culinary delight has another potentially potent gift in its arsenal – the ability to fight certain bacteria. With germs becoming increasingly resistant to the antibiotics we routinely use to fight them, scientists are searching widely for new tools to beat them with – and one of them may turn out to be the humble clove of garlic. Washington State University researchers say they’ve discovered that a compound in garlic, known as diallyl sulphide, is 100 times more effective than two popular antibiotics at fighting one of the most common causes of [...]
Fighting Germs on the Road
Posted on 08. May, 2012 by aqiumlogin in cold and flu, health & safety, travel
FOR Dr. Philip M. Tierno, business travel means combat. The enemy is heartless and relentless, stealthy and ubiquitous. It is poised to attack every second of the day, even when he’s asleep. It exploits his rare moments of weakness and turns everyone and everything around him into agents who thoughtlessly do its bidding. Dr. Tierno is not a corporate security expert trying to outflank rogue competitors. His enemy is infectious disease. He’s a professor of microbiology at the New York University School of Medicine who sees the common places of travel — cabs, airports, airplanes, hotels, restaurants and business meetings [...]
Restroom Facilities Dictate Your Workplace Hygiene Levels
Posted on 02. May, 2012 by aqiumlogin in at work, health & safety
The below article has been sourced from Green Room Hygiene is as important to the workplace as the equipment needed to get work done. And why not, when working in a hygienic environment means less work days lost to illness and an all round happier atmosphere? We at Alsco have noted that many companies have made a major effort to increase their hygiene levels, especially in the restroom. But, more than just toilet paper and loo bleach is needed to accomplish this. In fact, it comes down to providing the right facilities, and two principal types of facilities in particular: [...]
Bacteria thrive in the ‘go green’ age
Posted on 24. Apr, 2012 by aqiumlogin in family, health & safety
Trying to save the environment is having an impact none of us can see — the germs are loving it. Shunning paper towels and adopting green bags, low-impact household chemicals and cold wash cycles is leaving us awash with bacteria, with tests showing “clean” clothes now contain more germs than those worn by our grandparents. It is also technically safer to make a sandwich on a toilet seat than the average cutting board, such is the amount of bacteria on kitchen surfaces from preparing raw meat. US infection control expert Charles Gerba said debate about exposure to dirt being useful [...]
Scientists create reference guide for harmful germs in sand
Posted on 17. Apr, 2012 by aqiumlogin in family, health & safety, mother and baby
On warm days, the beach seems an ideal destination for family rest and relaxation. Who hasn’t built a sand castle or been buried up to the neck in sand? However, that family fun has a dark side — sand can harbor illness-causing microbes. Unfortunately, there are no guidelines for sand quality at recreational sites. Now, environmental scientists at the University of Miami (UM) and at Northern Illinois University have created a reference guide for potentially harmful germs in sand, similar to the guidelines set by the US Environmental Protection Agency for marine water. The report is published in the American [...]
Humans are a major source of indoor bacteria
Posted on 11. Apr, 2012 by aqiumlogin in family, health & safety
You are a big bag of germs. And just by walking into a room, you add 37 million bacteria to the air for every hour you remain there. At least, that’s what researchers at UC Berkeley and Yale University have discovered about the presence of a person in a room. “We live in this microbial soup, and a big ingredient is our own microorganisms,” said Jordan Peccia, associate professor of environmental engineering at Yale and principal investigator of the study, which was published in the most recent edition of the journal Indoor Air. “Mostly, people are re-suspending what’s been deposited before,” he [...]
1 IN 3* AUSSIE HOMES UNPREPARED FOR GERMS THIS WINTER
Posted on 03. Apr, 2012 by aqiumlogin in family, health & safety
New survey challenges Aussie parents to review cleaning and hand hygiene practices One in three* Aussie parents admit they need to improve their efforts to keep germs at bay during the colder months, yet the new Germwatch survey released recently reveals that 81%* of Aussies are missing a vital step in protecting their families by failing to always wash their hands when they get home from being outdoors or in public. The Germwatch survey was commissioned by the Dettol, Glen 20 and Pine O Cleen brands to uncover the truth about the cleaning and hygiene habits of Aussie parents, and [...]
Germs in your wallet can make you sick
Posted on 25. Mar, 2012 by aqiumlogin in cold and flu, health & safety
Germ on money may be making unwary Aussies sick – some notes are more than six times filthier than a public lavatory. But don’t think swapping it for plastic will magically make the germs disappear. A Public Defender investigation of 10 Melbourne shoppers’ wallets found cash and credit cards could be potential hotbeds for bacteria. In the worst example, a $10 note recorded a contamination count of 63,556 – that’s 6.4 times higher than the average count from similar tests on public lavatory seats throughout the city. A reading below 500 is considered acceptable. Credit and debit cards were generally [...]
Australian frogs could stop superbugs
Posted on 21. Mar, 2012 by aqiumlogin in health & safety
Australian frogs could help scientists in the global fight against hospital superbugs. Certain species of Australian frogs secrete chemicals which are toxic to different bacteria, including the sometimes-fatal MRSA strain which is resistant to multiple types of antibiotics, The Sydney Morning Herald reported Saturday. Scientists in Sydney and Melbourne are researching the secretions of several frogs, including the green-eyed tree frog and the golden bell frog, the paper said. Antimicrobial compounds called peptides that are emitted from some frogs could be used to destroy the membranes of bacteria and stop them developing resistance. Usually, antimicrobial peptides killed bacteria by puncturing [...]
Brit Olympic Hopefuls Told Not To Shake Hands
Posted on 07. Mar, 2012 by aqiumlogin in cold and flu, health & safety
Aussie athletes say they will continue to shake hands at the London Olympics despite British warnings it will spread disease. It would be considered bad sportsmanship to not shake hands but hopefully our athletes will practice good hand hygiene with regular hand washing/sanitising. British athletes are being advised not to shake hands in case they catch a bug, which wrecks their Olympic dreams. The warning has come from Dr Ian McCurdie, the British Olympic Association’s (BOA’s) chief medical officer. He says athletes could easily pick up a harmful virus in the “quite stressful environment” of the Games. Asked whether this [...]
