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KmH

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Is this heaven? No. It's Iowa.
A simple battle plan to prevent getting sick from some bacteria you picked up off a surface on your train that you don't have to think long and hard about it.

According to the US Center for Disease Control:

Just remember three simple words: Wash your hands.

WAY more effective than using things like Lysol wipes.
 
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Also, when possible use actual soap. The ubiquitous liquid soaps in use today do an amazingly poor job of actually cleaning your skin. If you doubt me try squishing something pungent between your fingers. Then wash them with an UNSCENTED chemical soap. Now smell them and notice the pungent odor remains at near full strength. Then wash your hands with an unscented old fashioned bar soap and smell again. The odor will be extremely light if it remains at all. Liquid soap is popular because it's extremely cheap, is very easy to rinse away, and doesn't leave hands feeling dry. Unfortunately it genuinely sucks at doing it's original job and tries to hide this fact under a strong chemical scent.
 
Actually, don't bother washing your hands unless they have distinct gunk on them. Its a general waste of time. Because a percentage of people never wash their hands, and therefore as soon as you touch something one of those people have touched, you might as well have not washed your hands at all. Better idea: Wear gloves.
 
My daughter, when she travels with me wipes down every possible surface in our roomette to limit the exposure It takes her a while and she brings hospital grade wipes. Amazing how much dirt she eliminates, or at least I want to think it is dust and dirt. Just stepping into the bathrooms can be challenging. Traveling by myself, I make sure to wash my hands frequently but I do not wipe down my room.
 
A simple battle plan to prevent getting sick from some bacteria you picked up off a surface on your train that you don't have to think long and hard about it.

According to the US Center for Disease Control:

Just remember three simple words: Wash your hands.

WAY more effective than using things like Lysol wipes.
Actually, an antibacterial wipe such as Lysol should be used in conjunction with washing your hands. If a surface has bacterial contamination on it and you do not decontaminate that surface you will need to wash your hands after every time it is touched. I prefer the use of bleach wipes such as Clorox. Bleach kills more effectively, however, can only be used on hard surfaces due to the obvious bleaching of most fabrics.

Norovirus is spread through contaminated surfaces from people not properly washing their hands after having a bowel movement. So many infections are spread through fecal contamination. The cruise ship stomach virus seen in the news from time to time is the Norovirus. The most common cause of gastroenteritis is Norovirus. If someone you love is puking at one end and squirting at the other, they most likely have been infected by a strain of Norovirus. Both vomitus and feces can transmit the virus of someone infected. Door handles are an effective vector to spread the virus. That is why before I go to the dining car I wash my hands for 20 seconds with soap and water. I then use my foot on the kick panels or my elbow on the push buttons to access the dining car.
 
My daughter, when she travels with me wipes down every possible surface in our roomette to limit the exposure It takes her a while and she brings hospital grade wipes. Amazing how much dirt she eliminates, or at least I want to think it is dust and dirt. Just stepping into the bathrooms can be challenging. Traveling by myself, I make sure to wash my hands frequently but I do not wipe down my room.
I would at least wipe down the table and door handle, both inside and outside the room, as well as the lock. These are the objects most likely to be contaminated. Your daughter has the right idea.
 
Remember the old Commercials: "Use Ivory Soap, its 99 and 44/100% Pure!"
Ivory is real soap. Most hand soap these days use detergents. I actually prefer those at home since they dont form soap scum. Ivory floats because its pumped with air to make it lighter.

True liquid soap is something like Dr Bronners.

Benzethonium chloride (Wet Ones antibacterial) works against bacteria and viruses, even though they can only market it as antibacterial. It also has some residual antimicrobial activity. I dont particularly like the scents, but they discontinued the unscented Outdoors version years ago. The general idea is that perfume scents may attract animals - especially bears.
 
Bacterial are everywhere - in astronomical numbers. Bacteria are the rulers of life on this Earth. Certainly not us humans.

Wiping a surface with an anti-bacterial wipe will have a temporary effect.

What it may do is clean the surface so some bacteria other than the predominant bacteria that was on the surface before it was wiped, flourish.

The more we use anti-bacterials, the more resistant bacterial become to our efforts to eliminate bacteria.

Interestingly, one of the places where bacterial disease is more commonly transmitted is hospitals.

If you do have to go to hospital you definitely want to minimize how long you're there.

An amazing thing about bacteria is that they share mutations across bacterial families.

In other words bacteria are collectively a kind of super organism.
 
Bacterial are everywhere - in astronomical numbers. Bacteria are the rulers of life on this Earth. Certainly not us humans.

Wiping a surface with an anti-bacterial wipe will have a temporary effect.

What it may do is clean the surface so some bacteria other than the predominant bacteria that was on the surface before it was wiped, flourish.

The more we use anti-bacterials, the more resistant bacterial become to our efforts to eliminate bacteria.

Interestingly, one of the places where bacterial disease is more commonly transmitted is hospitals.

If you do have to go to hospital you definitely want to minimize how long you're there.

An amazing thing about bacteria is that they share mutations across bacterial families.

In other words bacteria are collectively a kind of super organism.
Plus people, especially kids, are not able to build up immunity with all this germ phobia going around.

Sent from my iPhone using Amtrak Forum
 
A simple battle plan to prevent getting sick from some bacteria you picked up off a surface on your train that you don't have to think long and hard about it.

According to the US Center for Disease Control:

Just remember three simple words: Wash your hands.

WAY more effective than using things like Lysol wipes.
https://youtu.be/8FQKqDf-jH0

Now try getting that out of your head....
default_tongue.png


After 12 days on a cruise, I can't....
default_smile.png
 
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Remember the old Commercials: "Use Ivory Soap, its 99 and 44/100% Pure!"
Ivory is real soap. Most hand soap these days use detergents. I actually prefer those at home since they dont form soap scum. Ivory floats because its pumped with air to make it lighter.

True liquid soap is something like Dr Bronners.

Benzethonium chloride (Wet Ones antibacterial) works against bacteria and viruses, even though they can only market it as antibacterial. It also has some residual antimicrobial activity. I dont particularly like the scents, but they discontinued the unscented Outdoors version years ago. The general idea is that perfume scents may attract animals - especially bears.
I thought they changed the formula of Ivory a few years ago. With that, you'll no loner see words like "soap" or "float" on the packaging.
 
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Remember the old Commercials: "Use Ivory Soap, its 99 and 44/100% Pure!"
Ivory is real soap. Most hand soap these days use detergents. I actually prefer those at home since they dont form soap scum. Ivory floats because its pumped with air to make it lighter.True liquid soap is something like Dr Bronners.Benzethonium chloride (Wet Ones antibacterial) works against bacteria and viruses, even though they can only market it as antibacterial. It also has some residual antimicrobial activity. I dont particularly like the scents, but they discontinued the unscented Outdoors version years ago. The general idea is that perfume scents may attract animals - especially bears.
I thought they changed the formula of Ivory a few years ago. With that, you'll no loner see words like "soap" or "float" on the packaging.
Still real soap. They also still say it floats, but not on the packaging. I remember it said So pure it floats, which was ridiculously wrong. It was the air whipped into the soap that reduced the density and allowed it to float.

The ingredient list pretty much indicates its lye soap, which is made by reacting lye with a fat like beef tallow, coconut oil, or palm kernel oil. They have one ingredient to reduce soap scum. I remember when Red Devil Lye used to have label with a soap recipe.

https://www.pgshop.com/Ivory-Original-10-Count%3A-Bath-Size-Bars-4-Oz/PG_00037000827580.html

Ingredients

Sodium Tallowate And/Or Sodium Palmate, Water, Sodium Cocoate And/Or Sodium Palm Kernelate, Glycerin, Sodium Chloride, Fragrance, Coconut Acid*, Palm Kernel Acid*, Tallow Acid*, Palm Acid*, Tetrasodium EDTA. *Contains One Or More Of These Ingredients.

History of Ivory's Bar Soap

Floating bar soap: a cool accident!

In 1879, a worker accidentally left his machine on during his lunch hour only to return and find the mixture puffed up and frothy with air bubbles. Because the ingredients hadnt been altered, the production process continued and the bar soap was shipped. Several months later, customer requests for the floating soap resulted in an investigation that determined that this accident had caused Ivory Bar Soap to float.

Putting the soap in soap operas

Early in television history, Ivory sponsored a string of television series including many popular daytime dramas that were making the transition from radio to TV. Ivorys prominence on these programs was how the name "soap operas" came to be. It was the brand that would define an entire television genrea genre that has remained part of everyday life for decades.

Pure genius

In 1882, Ivory introduced its first advertising slogan99 and 44/100% Purewhich was developed by Harley Procter when he totaled the soaps impurities from a scientific analysis and subtracted it from 100 percent.
 
Bacteria is all over. What we try to do when traveling is to reduce the chance of picking up a viral infection. We carry a spray bottle of Lysol and spray the toilet seat, shower floor, door/closet knobs

table top, sink faucets, and the flush button. In the hotel rooms the phone and TV remote also receive attention. You don't know who was in the room before you. For all you know the person could have had AIDS. .
 
For all you know the person could have had AIDS. .
Which cannot be transferred via casual contact or sharing a space with them anyways, so there's no reason to worry about that.

From hiv.gov:

Can I Get HIV from Casual Contact, Using a Public Space, or from a Mosquito Bite?

No. HIV is NOT transmitted:

By hugging, shaking hands, sharing toilets, sharing dishes, or closed-mouth or “social” kissing with someone who is HIV-positive.
Through saliva, tears, or sweat that is not mixed with the blood of an HIV-positive person.
By mosquitoes, ticks or other blood-sucking insects.
Through the air.
 
Bacteria is all over. What we try to do when traveling is to reduce the chance of picking up a viral infection. We carry a spray bottle of Lysol and spray the toilet seat, shower floor, door/closet knobs

table top, sink faucets, and the flush button. In the hotel rooms the phone and TV remote also receive attention. You don't know who was in the room before you. For all you know the person could have had AIDS. .
What the?!? Educate yourself!
 
I think the point has been made about HIV and the fact that it is, in fact, very difficult to transmit. Of all the things to worry about from incidental human contact, that is not one of them. Lets move on from that.

I certainly do not belittle those who take steps to prevent contact with infectious agents, but short of going full Howard Hughes (and a lot of good it did him), in the end I think it is a futile effort. I do the best I reasonably can, and then trust the immune system to do its job. By and large, it seems to work. I just survived a two day encounter with my two-year-old grandson. There may not be a bigger germ carrier than a little kid who spends the day with a bunch of other little kids in daycare. I seem to have escaped unscathed.
 
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