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So can diseases be spread through contaminated books or not? the article seemingly does not make a clear statement either way.
by billfruit 7y ago
So can diseases be spread through contaminated books or not? the article seemingly does not make a clear statement either way.
- winchling 7y agoMost infectious bugs can't survive outside the human body for more than a day or two. Bugs prefer non-porous surfaces. Most books have porous pages, which is good, but of course the covers are non-porous.
- johnnycab 7y agoI would have thought that the headline alone would be sufficient enough to provide that answer. In order to remove any further doubt, millions of books are still in circulation, after more than a century since the scare/panic. This should be considered as a fact that books are not infectious ─ not in the medical sense, at least. A Kindle is probably likely to harbour more germs than an average book. Furthermore, the chemistry of books possibly does not allow harmful organisms to survive for too long. https://www.scienceabc.com/nature/why-do-books-smell-so-good.html https://www.scienceabc.com/nature/why-do-books-smell-so-good... https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/apr/07/the-smell-of-old-books-science-libraries https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/apr/07/the-smell-of-o...
- billfruit 7y agoYes, but instead of categorically starting it, the article merely implies it, giving the reader some doubt. But I suppose there is still some possibility that books could be contaminated with disease causing microbes/ parasites or even harmful chemicals.
- devoply 7y agoWould be easy enough to sanitize using radiation if you really wanted to. Fact is humans are resistant to many things.
- vallismortis 7y agoI once received a book in the mail that contained about half a dozen live scorpions in it. The environment isn't as hostile as you might think.