The Secret Life of Germs : Observations and Lessons from a Microbe Hunter

Rating:
Summary: Lessons we should have learned
Review: Do you remember your mother and your teachers always getting after you to wash your hands? And sometimes a little voice inside of you said, "My hands already look clean." And you didn't bother to wash them?

You might not think it worthwhile to read a book that nags you on this very same subject, especially if you are a physician or hospital care worker. But, as this author points out, hospital-acquired infections are among the biggest public health threats in America and they're on the rise. The often drug-resistant germs kill more than twice as many people as traffic accidents (in fact, these infections kill more people per year than all accidental deaths including car crashes, fires, burns, falls, etc.) and cost an estimated $4.5 billion a year.

Those are astonishing statistics--something to be expected from a medieval pest hole, not a modern hospital.

Just yesterday (10/25/2002), the government issued guidelines urging doctors and nurses to abandon the ritual of washing their hands with soap and water between patients, and instead rub on fast-drying alcohol gels to kill more germs. The author of "The Secret Life of Germs" also favors germicides over simple soap and water. He's done his research and does not feel that germs will develop resistance to these products, because they do not kill selectively like antibiotics do.

Be sure to read the section on "The (Not So) Sweet Smell of Human Flora." You might be surprised by some of the causes of chronic bad breath---and the remedies (chew a wad a parsley or celery seed after eating garlic).

In fact this book recommends protective response strategies for almost all of those times when you might find yourself in a germ-laden environment. After hospitals, public restrooms are the scariest (yes, your mother was right about them, too). The author recommends specific techniques for washing your hands before and after using public facilities. Unfortunately, another one of his protective response strategies--close the lid of the seat before flushing--can't be implemented in a restroom stall, because there are no lids. This is a problem because "flushing the toilet can send small drops of aerosolized fecal matter as far as twenty feet into the air."

The least you can do is close the lid at home, especially if your toothbrush happens to be stored in the open, less than twenty feet away from your toilet.

The sections on pets, fast food, municipal water supplies and leftovers are also grim. Did you know that the bacterium 'Listeria monocytogenes,' the cause of listeriosis food poisoning, resists freezing and actually thrives at normal refrigeration temperatures? The author has a list of nineteen protective response strategies for eating and drinking. You really should check them out, especially if you are fond of fast foods, are giving or attending a party where food is served buffet-style, or are immuno-suppressed.

"The Secret Life of Germs" is not a fun book, but it is essential reading for those of us who are concerned about our health or the health of others (Saddam Hussein is actually practicing good hygiene when he makes people scrub up before shaking hands with him).

Rating:
Summary: Lessons we should have learned
Review: Do you remember your mother and your teachers always getting after you to wash your hands? And sometimes a little voice inside of you said, "My hands already look clean." And you didn't bother to wash them?

You might not think it worthwhile to read a book that nags you on this very same subject, especially if you are a physician or hospital care worker. But, as this author points out, hospital-acquired infections are among the biggest public health threats in America and they're on the rise. The often drug-resistant germs kill more than twice as many people as traffic accidents (in fact, these infections kill more people per year than all accidental deaths including car crashes, fires, burns, falls, etc.) and cost an estimated $4.5 billion a year.

Those are astonishing statistics--something to be expected from a medieval pest hole, not a modern hospital.

Just yesterday (10/25/2002), the government issued guidelines urging doctors and nurses to abandon the ritual of washing their hands with soap and water between patients, and instead rub on fast-drying alcohol gels to kill more germs. The author of "The Secret Life of Germs" also favors germicides over simple soap and water. He's done his research and does not feel that germs will develop resistance to these products, because they do not kill selectively like antibiotics do.

Be sure to read the section on "The (Not So) Sweet Smell of Human Flora." You might be surprised by some of the causes of chronic bad breath---and the remedies (chew a wad a parsley or celery seed after eating garlic).

In fact this book recommends protective response strategies for almost all of those times when you might find yourself in a germ-laden environment. After hospitals, public restrooms are the scariest (yes, your mother was right about them, too). The author recommends specific techniques for washing your hands before and after using public facilities. Unfortunately, another one of his protective response strategies--close the lid of the seat before flushing--can't be implemented in a restroom stall, because there are no lids. This is a problem because "flushing the toilet can send small drops of aerosolized fecal matter as far as twenty feet into the air."

The least you can do is close the lid at home, especially if your toothbrush happens to be stored in the open, less than twenty feet away from your toilet.

The sections on pets, fast food, municipal water supplies and leftovers are also grim. Did you know that the bacterium 'Listeria monocytogenes,' the cause of listeriosis food poisoning, resists freezing and actually thrives at normal refrigeration temperatures? The author has a list of nineteen protective response strategies for eating and drinking. You really should check them out, especially if you are fond of fast foods, are giving or attending a party where food is served buffet-style, or are immuno-suppressed.

"The Secret Life of Germs" is not a fun book, but it is essential reading for those of us who are concerned about our health or the health of others (Saddam Hussein is actually practicing good hygiene when he makes people scrub up before shaking hands with him).

Rating:
Summary: A readable, fact-packed manual for germophobes
Review: Germophobes unite! If you're the type of person (as I am) who washes his or her hands several times a day, usually the first thing I do when I get home, avoids putting fingers to mouth or nose, doesn't touch doorknobs if they can be avoided, flushes public toilets with the sole of your shoe-covered foot, etc., etc., then this is a book to further your phobia. You will be justified. Prof Tierno, who has impressive academic credentials and a claim to fame as "the man who helped solve the mystery behind toxic shock syndrome" sounds a very stringent warning here about the dangers of the wrong microbes in the wrong places. He is, I must report, a bit of a germophobe himself, but a learned one. He sprinkles his text with what he calls "Protective Response Strategies" to help us maneuver our way through the microbial jungle that lives in, on and all around us. The first response strategy is on "How to wash your hands."

I've always had a small problem with that. Not at home, where the germs are MY germs, but in public places, especially restrooms. Is it better to just go in, relieve yourself, and exit, being careful not to touch the door handle, or any surface someone else may have touched? (Where there's a handle to pull open the door, I try to grab it with one finger at the very top, thinking nobody else is likely to have grabbed it there.) Or should I stop to wash? But if I stop to "wash" that means I have to touch the faucet, but how can I not touch it last, which may be worse than not washing at all? Tierno has the answer: turn the water off with a paper towel in your hand. Another problem is how to get that paper towel into the trash cylinder without touching the spring-loaded opening. Sometimes what I do is push it open with the towel in my hand and try to drop the towel before it springs shut. Usually it lands on the floor. I used to feel bad about that, but Tierno has a suggestion for places that don't have waste receptacles that has made me feel better: "Drop the towel on the floor. If enough people do so, there will soon be a receptacle there, as there should be." (p. 29)

"Germs" in Tierno's usage are microbes, viruses, bacteria, protozoa, yeast, molds, etc. He gives a wealth of information about many of them, how they spread, how they cause disease, and what we can do about lessening our chance of catching something horrible. He addresses various health issues, and traces the now global spread of disease, from AIDs to Ebola to Legionnaires, to the new threat from tuberculosis and weapons grade anthrax, to rhinoviruses ("nose viruses"), which cause colds, and hantaviruses, which can kill you, and beyond. An interesting (and unsettling) point he makes is that some germs, like the ubiquitous Escherichia coli or Staphylococcus aureus, which usually lives peacefully on our skin, can become lethal if they get to the wrong place in the body. Also there is the very unsettling possibility that a germ may mutate from one that our immune system has in control to one that kills us.

Well, germs are not going anywhere. They were here long before we were, and they'll surely be here long after we are gone. We need to make our peace with them, learn to live with them (multicellular life would be impossible without microbes to break down dead tissue, to produce oxygen, to serve as the base of the food chain, etc.) and reduce their noxious effects. Tierno's book may not make you feel any easier about the invisible little devils that make up perhaps the majority of the biomass on the planet (most of it underground, it now appears), but it will make you feel more knowledgeable, and you will perhaps gain a grudging respect for their amazing abilities.

By the way, a gram of human fecal matter contains about one trillion microbes. A gram of matter from the surface of our teeth contains about one hundred billion microbes. And that sweet saliva we used to exchange when we were young, despite being a good digestive fluid, contains about one hundred million microbes per milliliter. (p. 46)

Finally I want to note that Tierno has solved (for me at least) a very strange mystery that has been making news lately. Childhood asthma rates in the US have increased greatly in recent years, while some authorities have noted that rates in the Third World are lower than rates in the United States. (pp. 166-167) How can this be? Tierno writes, "One reason that childhood asthma rates seem to be lower in the Third World is very likely the fact that several million Third World children a year die at very early ages..." He adds, "...many Third World children simply don't live long enough to be recorded as having asthma..." (p. 167). Additionally, he notes on page 168, "If we are looking for an explanation for the 158 percent increase in asthma in the United States over the past two decades, we might reasonably begin by noticing that the same period has seen a large increase in the number of people living in poverty, thanks to big increases in immigration."

One more thing: There was a Seinfeld TV episode in which Elaine's on-again, off-again boyfriend, Puddy, is a member of a fictional (I think) organization called "Germophobes Anonymous." If it had a manual, Prof. Tierno's very readable, but rather disquieting book would serve very well indeed.

Rating:
Summary: Secret Life of Germs review
Review: I have read this fascinating book about germs. It contained everything I ever wanted to know them and somethings I had no idea I should ask. The book is divided in three sections the first presenting an informative historical view in a down to earth foksey manner. It laid out a fascinating scenario concerning Ebola virus taking place in Grand Central Station. I won't spoil your fun by revealing the the concluding remarks.It is written in an entertaining fashion. The second section of the book contained info on evry way germs are transmitted and what we can do in our everyday life to protect ourselves. Awesome!!!! The last sections talk anot bioterrorism---uncanny discussion. and lastly the future is discussed with an uplifting overview, powerfully presented. A must read .. a gem...surperb is an understatement.

Rating:
Summary: A wonderfully sobering book
Review: I usually don't take time from my busy work schedule to write book reviews but I make an exception here. The book on germs written by Dr. Tierno is so profoundly important and so clearly written that I think that it should be read by everyone for their own well being. It cleared up ALL of the misconceptions about germs that I've had for years. And yet I found his book to be entertaining and informative and, in fact, at times downright mesmorizing. I take issue with the lone reviewer who talked about "disproportionate" and obsessive hygiene. Nonsense! Dr.Tierno's book is powerfully documented with plenty of supportive data. i am involved with food professionally and you can never be too clean nor cautious when dealing with food and the public. I appreciated Dr. Tierno's "Protective Response Strategies" which suggest ways to reduce our everyday risk of infection. The one statistic that rings in my head is the fact that 100 years ago infections diseases were the #1 killer of men worldwide and as Dr. Tierno points out THAT IS STILL THE CASE!!
Bravo for this book. I highly recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: Take it with a grain of salt...
Review: The author has done his research and tells you more about germs than you ever wanted to know. He also tells you how to avoid getting sick and how to clean just about everything properly. However, I could've done without the instruction on how to clean my anus. Yes, that really is in the book. After reading it, I was also left wondering how the human race has managed to survive. Putting the paranoia aside, the book had lots of useful information and good cleaning tips.

Rating:
Summary: Extremely Educational and Entertaining
Review: This amazing book is truly one of a kind. I would highly recommend it to anyone with the slightest interest in "germs", microbiology, or personal hygiene, and it is an absolute must read for biology or medical students. Dr. Tierno educates the reader on the world of germs and their amazing interactions with the human race. His style would, in my opinion, be easily read and enjoyed by both casual readers and members of the scientific community. I highly recommend this book!

Rating:
Summary: Yikes! Get this book if you don't know what lurks about you
Review: This books will open your eyes to the world of germs, if they're not already open to them. You'll find some handy tips to keep yourself safe around the house... I've kept all the mites and allergies out of my system with originalmsm.com and the knowledge from this book has helped kill a lot of germs. It is definitely worth the read. It's one of those books that will change the way you live - for the better. Get it, read it, then tell the rest of us customers here at Amazon what you think.

Rating:
Summary: Yikes! Get this book if you don't know what lurks about you
Review: This books will open your eyes to the world of germs, if they're not already open to them. You'll find some handy tips to keep yourself safe around the house... I've kept all the mites and allergies out of my system with originalmsm.com and the knowledge from this book has helped kill a lot of germs. It is definitely worth the read. It's one of those books that will change the way you live - for the better. Get it, read it, then tell the rest of us customers here at Amazon what you think.

Rating:
Summary: Useful book - only slightly neurotic
Review: This is not one of those alarmist books that is meant to keep you up at night worrying about impending doom. Surprisingly, this is a realistic guide to understanding the real risks and benefits of germs and learning how to protect yourself. Probably the highest compliment I can pay this book is that I have changed some of my own hygiene strategies based on what I learned.

Despite the fact that Tierno has spent most of his life studying germs and infectious diseases, he comes across and only slightly neurotic about hygiene. Maybe a third of the advice in this book is common sense, another third is probably over-ambitious, and a third is really useful and interesting.

I would have found the book a lot more interesting, but less useful in an every day sense, if it had focused more on the epidemiology and microbiology and less on hygiene. I probably even would have forgiven him for throwing in a few more sensationalistic stories about epidemics and drug-resistant microbes. But then again, there are plenty of books out there that already have that covered.