Director, Emergency Services, Bikur Cholim Hospital
An article suggested that you could make your bathroom as
sterile as an operating room. I think that is an
exaggeration, but I will give my opinion on the
recommendations. Keep in mind that I am definitely in favor
of cleanliness: I cannot eat in a dirty place, nor will I use
a public bathroom that is filthy.
1) Color code hand and bath towels so family members do
not trade viruses. I am not sure this will help much as
there is so much interaction within the home. However, I
personally would never use a wet towel used by anyone
else.
2) Do not share toothbrushes. True again if they are
wet, but healthy people can use each other's brushes with
little worry in the same family. I know our culture frowns on
it, but I do not see real danger.
3) Always flush with the lid down. I can appreciate
that germs are spread through floating in the air, but this
one seems a little overboard. I do not believe that any
droplets travel that far and for that long, and if they do,
you need to lower the pressure of the water in your toilet.
However, feces have more bacteria than urine. Also, there is
a suction effect when the water goes down. I think we need
more data before you convince me on this one, however it of
course cannot hurt.
4) Wipe down high-touch surfaces. Yes, handles can
harbor germs and I do believe a good bleach can help here. I
can't disagree but I will say sneezing and coughing without
covering your face is much more dangerous. Also, it may be a
good idea to keep grandparent and children's bathrooms
separate.
5) Paper cups in the bathroom. Only if there are sick
folks. Plastic bathroom cups that are kept clean, in my
opinion, are just fine.
6) Functional tissues. There are now tissues
impregnated with antiviral substances. Well, again, it
depends how sick folks are. What is probably more important
is that on Shabbos we often use tissues in the bathroom and
one must be careful not to use them for sneezing. Keep them
separate.
7) Washing your hands after using the bathroom. We do
this because of halochoh, but most little people do not, and
if you have a goy in the house such as one taking care
of an older person or a worker, they probably will not wash
either. 20 percent of men and 8 percent of women in the
general population do not wash their hands after using the
facilities.
8) Scrub the toilet bowl. We all do this.
9) Let the water run in shower heads. Ridiculous.
Germs do grow there, but no one has proven they are dangerous
or pathogenic.
10) Scrub showers, tubs and countertops. I believe a
regular cleanser is enough - antiseptics can cause worse
problems. And to further show interesting data, an article in
the Annals of Emergency Medicine not long ago showed
that tap water is just fine for disinfecting wounds.
My point is to keep things clean, but do not buy everything
mentioned in the press. Advertising was meant to play to your
weaknesses, but many times it is bogus. Write me in care of
Yated.
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