[Web4lib] CAN LIBRARIES BE SOURCE OF CONTAMINATION?

[pat.knuth at us.army.mil]

I seem to remember reading something about many bacteria drying out and dying quickly when they were on fabric.  I suspect the same thing would be the case for most book pages.  However, they  probably wouldn't die as quickly on the clear book protectors. 

But the difference between a library or other public places and a Dr.'s office or a hospital is that there is a concentration of sick people at a Dr.'s office or hospital.  There is more chance of touching something that was just touched/contaminated by a sick person.

Lisa - was your father concerned about the overuse of soaps in general, or was it antibacterial soaps?  I thought regular soap just made it easier to wash the germs away, rather than killing them.

Pat Knuth
Systems Librarian
European Regional Librarian & Support Center
DSN 314-370-7680 or 7430
Comm: +49-6221-57-7680 or 7430
pat.knuth at us.army.mil

----- Original Message -----
From: "Pons, Lisa (ponslm)" <PONSLM at UCMAIL.UC.EDU>
Date: Wednesday, August 22, 2007 18:30
Subject: RE: [Web4lib] CAN LIBRARIES BE SOURCE OF CONTAMINATION?
To: web4lib at webjunction.org

> Personal anecdote: 
> 
> My father was a virologist, and worked especially with the flu 
> virus and
> Aids viruses. He worked with Nobel Prize winners (including one who
> developed polio vaccine). He said that over use of soaps and 
> sanitizersto destroy germs could (to somehwat oversimplify) result 
> in superbugs,
> as well as mutations. He did encourage us to wash our hands and such,
> but, as you said in your statement, a little exposure was not
> necessarily a bad thing.
> 
> FWIW...
> 
> Lisa Pons-Haitz
> University of Cincinnati
> 
> 
> 
> > But, there are some who argue that trying too hard to live in 
> > a germ free environment makes people more likely rather than 
> > less likely to get sick because a person's body has no 
> > opportunity to develop immunity by gradual exposure. An 
> > example of this is the school/daycare experience. A child's 
> > first year in daycare or school is usually full of minor 
> > illnesses; then it slows or stops because the child has 
> > developed immunities to the common "germs". Here is an 
> > article that covers this topic relating to children and 
> > allergies- 
> > http://www.usc.edu/hsc/info/pr/hmm/00-01winter/germs.html . I 
> > have read loads of material over the years presenting this 
> > view point with regard to living in general. Does anyone have 
> > better access to journal articles about this?
> > 
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