5 ms·

i wash my hands with soap and hot water every time i get home to my apartment (after grabbing the door handles of the supermarket etc. etc.), and have done so s

i wash my hands with soap and hot water every time i get home to my apartment (after grabbing the door handles of the supermarket etc. etc.), and have done so since young age. i don't lick my fingers or poke myself in the eye, ear etc. without having absolutely clean hands. incidentally - and i know correlation is not always causation - i never get sick. ever. rhinovirus doesn't get me. calicivirus doesn't get me. no flu has ever gotten me.

ajju 17y ago
no flu has ever gotten me. ever? I know people say this all the time, but are you sure, you have never had the flu?
- sjs 17y ago
  I believe them. I'm not quite that fastidious about washing my hands after being out in public, and I've only had a flu once when I was 10-12. It was a 24-hour flu and it was very unpleasant, but thankfully that's the only time I've had it. I generally don't get sick. I catch a head cold sometimes during the season but again, it's usually pretty mild and gone the next day.
- hackermom 17y ago
  yes, i've never had any flu. the symptoms of viral infections as strong as that of the influenza virus can't go unnoticed with any healhty person. one might carry viruses around without them ever managing to infect you, though. the rhinovirus, which lives in the human crowd, is a good example of this.
willwagner 17y ago
If you are a mom as your username suggests, that's impressive. When our kids went to preschool, my wife and I had colds frequently. Teaching our kids the basics in hygiene at 3 years old is hard enough, but putting them in a germ hostile environment exposed them to all sorts of new germs, the result being a minor blip on their uber-immunity systems and full blown cold for ourselves.
- araneae 17y ago
  Kids are a major vector of flu. In fact, vaccinating school age children actually prevents more deaths in the elderly than vaccinating the elderly directly.
ErrantX 17y ago
The only possible problem with that approach could be if you slip up or somehow end up catching the flu by other means. It could hit you hard. My aunt never had the flu and was barely ill most of her life due to similar behavior. A couple of years ago she caught the flu from someone and it put her in hospital for a few days and then kept her in bed/at home for about 3 months (all told). Everything basically hit her at once. With that said it might be you simply have a naturally higher immuno-response to viruses. I tend to get simply mild colds when the rest of my family are in bed for a week with flu :)
jrockway 17y ago
I probably spend half my day eating my fingers. I don't use antibacterial soap or hand sanitizers (but do wash multiple times per day with regular soap). I also rarely get sick. It's almost like this whole "immune system" thing actually works...
- deleted 17y ago
  [deleted]

ajju 17y ago

no flu has ever gotten me. ever? I know people say this all the time, but are you sure, you have never had the flu?

sjs 17y ago
I believe them. I'm not quite that fastidious about washing my hands after being out in public, and I've only had a flu once when I was 10-12. It was a 24-hour flu and it was very unpleasant, but thankfully that's the only time I've had it. I generally don't get sick. I catch a head cold sometimes during the season but again, it's usually pretty mild and gone the next day.
hackermom 17y ago
yes, i've never had any flu. the symptoms of viral infections as strong as that of the influenza virus can't go unnoticed with any healhty person. one might carry viruses around without them ever managing to infect you, though. the rhinovirus, which lives in the human crowd, is a good example of this.

willwagner 17y ago

If you are a mom as your username suggests, that's impressive. When our kids went to preschool, my wife and I had colds frequently. Teaching our kids the basics in hygiene at 3 years old is hard enough, but putting them in a germ hostile environment exposed them to all sorts of new germs, the result being a minor blip on their uber-immunity systems and full blown cold for ourselves.

araneae 17y ago
Kids are a major vector of flu. In fact, vaccinating school age children actually prevents more deaths in the elderly than vaccinating the elderly directly.

ErrantX 17y ago

The only possible problem with that approach could be if you slip up or somehow end up catching the flu by other means. It could hit you hard. My aunt never had the flu and was barely ill most of her life due to similar behavior. A couple of years ago she caught the flu from someone and it put her in hospital for a few days and then kept her in bed/at home for about 3 months (all told). Everything basically hit her at once. With that said it might be you simply have a naturally higher immuno-response to viruses. I tend to get simply mild colds when the rest of my family are in bed for a week with flu :)

jrockway 17y ago

I probably spend half my day eating my fingers. I don't use antibacterial soap or hand sanitizers (but do wash multiple times per day with regular soap). I also rarely get sick. It's almost like this whole "immune system" thing actually works...

deleted 17y ago
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