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Daily Dose: Dirt on Germs

Aired February 18, 2004 - 11:38   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: So, let's talk about germs then. You know they're everywhere, even in some places that we go to get clean.
Medical correspondent Holly Firfer is here with the dirt on all of this.

HOLLY FIRFER, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It's time to gross you out this morning.

LIN: The study of the bathroom.

FIRFER: Yes.

LIN: Why the bathroom?

FIRFER: I mean, you know, you shower, right? You showered this morning?

LIN: Absolutely.

FIRFER: OK. And you think you're clean. You're feeling good. You know, you might want to ask yourself: What did you do with that towel? What did you do with the bathroom door? Did you close it? Did you leave it open? There's a lot to this.

First of all, you know that sort of pink thing you see on the shower curtain? That's soap scum, right? Well, one researcher at the University of Colorado decided, I want to know what exactly is in my shower and what is on that shower curtain. And he found that, yes, there are germs. There are microbes, tiny microbes, all over your bathroom.

Two, he found, he looked at his own shower curtain, and two things he found, one was called phingomonaz (ph) and one was called methlo (ph) bacteria. And he, in looking very closely at his own shower curtain, found one billion microbes per square inch.

Now, big names for tiny little microbes, tiny little bacteria. But what he found is that it's all over the place, and we are showering, we're cleaning, but they still exist.

So, he wants people to be careful, because, you know, they're there and he doesn't want you to get sick from some of these microbes.

LIN: Are they deadly? I mean, how sick can you get?

FIRFER: Well, they're not deadly to, say, you and I, who are healthy people, but you do have to be careful. Some people who are immunosuppressed, the elderly, some people who are more susceptible to certain diseases, if you have perhaps been through chemotherapy and you're more susceptible to maybe a skin infection, that's who has to be careful.

But for you and I, we live in a germ world. Some germs are good for you. Some germs are healthy. Some germs help you fight infections. Some germs help you build up your immune system. So, you're not going to die from this, but certain people do have to take some precautions, and that's why he wanted to look at the bathroom.

And there are also, you know, other places in our house, too, that are filled with germs -- your kitchen, other things. But because the bathroom is warm and moist...

LIN: Right.

FIRFER: ... it likes to grow and thrive in that area.

LIN: OK. The fact of the matter is, though, it got to the point in his bathroom that he could actually...

FIRFER: Yes.

LIN: ... see something on his shower curtain.

FIRFER: Yes.

LIN: So, I mean, that's a good gauge for me that, you know, he needed to do a little more before it got to that point. But how clean do you need to keep your bathroom?

FIRFER: Pretty clean. I mean, you're not going to die, like I said, from having a little bit of dirt in your bathroom. But there are some tips you can do basically to keep your bathroom clean.

First of all, change your shower curtain every one to two month. A good rule of thumb.

Make sure you let your curtain air dry. You know, sometimes you push it aside and there's a lot of folds in between.

LIN: Oh, that's a good point.

FIRFER: Well, yes, it can't dry in between, so pull it closed almost all the way, let a little air get in there. And also if you have like a pretty sort of decorative shower curtain and a liner, keep that decorative part on the outside of the bathtub, so it doesn't get wet and mold or bacteria can't build up on that.

Change or clean your shower head every year. Bacteria can build up on the shower head as well.

LIN: Oh, I didn't think about that.

FIRFER: So, either change it or take it down and clean it with a wire brush to get into the little holes with some detergent. That will help.

LIN: Right.

FIRFER: And also, keep your bathroom door open during -- or after your shower so that the moist air can dissipate, because, as I said, bacteria loves to thrive and grow in that kind of atmosphere.

And get this one. I know this is going to sound really gross. But we lose 1.5 million skin cells an hour. An hour. And that's normal. That's average, not a big deal. But sometimes those loofahs and those rags you have in the shower help you sort of get rid of all, you know, the dirt and everything. Also, those skin cells and bacteria can build up on those, so make sure you clean your loofahs, your rags, those little nail brushes, and make sure they air dry completely. You don't want those germs to sort of thrive in that warm, moist area.

And one more thing. That towel that you're using, how often do you change your towel? Well, it doesn't look dirty, and you figure, well, I'm wiping myself off because I'm clean after the shower. You should be changing your towel every couple of days, if not more. They found bacteria on the towel and, it will kind of gross you out, but a little bit of fecal matter...

LIN: Oh, god, Holly!

FIRFER: ... because you're cleaning and drying all parts. It's the healthy net.

LIN: All right.

FIRFER: We have to tell you this but...

LIN: All right.

FIRFER: I mean, truly...

LIN: It's (UNINTELLIGIBLE)?

FIRFER: Yes. You know, just let it air dry.

LIN: Yes.

FIRFER: Make sure you air dry it all the way, too.

LIN: OK.

FIRFER: Easy tips. We're not going to die. It's just sort of that water cooler type, did you know?

LIN: Yes.

FIRFER: Yes, sorry to gross you out.

LIN: And if you're out there dating, it's a good way to kind of gauge your partner. All right. FIRFER: Good point.

LIN: Thanks very much, Holly Firfer.

FIRFER: Sure.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.






Aired February 18, 2004 - 11:38   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: So, let's talk about germs then. You know they're everywhere, even in some places that we go to get clean.
Medical correspondent Holly Firfer is here with the dirt on all of this.

HOLLY FIRFER, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It's time to gross you out this morning.

LIN: The study of the bathroom.

FIRFER: Yes.

LIN: Why the bathroom?

FIRFER: I mean, you know, you shower, right? You showered this morning?

LIN: Absolutely.

FIRFER: OK. And you think you're clean. You're feeling good. You know, you might want to ask yourself: What did you do with that towel? What did you do with the bathroom door? Did you close it? Did you leave it open? There's a lot to this.

First of all, you know that sort of pink thing you see on the shower curtain? That's soap scum, right? Well, one researcher at the University of Colorado decided, I want to know what exactly is in my shower and what is on that shower curtain. And he found that, yes, there are germs. There are microbes, tiny microbes, all over your bathroom.

Two, he found, he looked at his own shower curtain, and two things he found, one was called phingomonaz (ph) and one was called methlo (ph) bacteria. And he, in looking very closely at his own shower curtain, found one billion microbes per square inch.

Now, big names for tiny little microbes, tiny little bacteria. But what he found is that it's all over the place, and we are showering, we're cleaning, but they still exist.

So, he wants people to be careful, because, you know, they're there and he doesn't want you to get sick from some of these microbes.

LIN: Are they deadly? I mean, how sick can you get?

FIRFER: Well, they're not deadly to, say, you and I, who are healthy people, but you do have to be careful. Some people who are immunosuppressed, the elderly, some people who are more susceptible to certain diseases, if you have perhaps been through chemotherapy and you're more susceptible to maybe a skin infection, that's who has to be careful.

But for you and I, we live in a germ world. Some germs are good for you. Some germs are healthy. Some germs help you fight infections. Some germs help you build up your immune system. So, you're not going to die from this, but certain people do have to take some precautions, and that's why he wanted to look at the bathroom.

And there are also, you know, other places in our house, too, that are filled with germs -- your kitchen, other things. But because the bathroom is warm and moist...

LIN: Right.

FIRFER: ... it likes to grow and thrive in that area.

LIN: OK. The fact of the matter is, though, it got to the point in his bathroom that he could actually...

FIRFER: Yes.

LIN: ... see something on his shower curtain.

FIRFER: Yes.

LIN: So, I mean, that's a good gauge for me that, you know, he needed to do a little more before it got to that point. But how clean do you need to keep your bathroom?

FIRFER: Pretty clean. I mean, you're not going to die, like I said, from having a little bit of dirt in your bathroom. But there are some tips you can do basically to keep your bathroom clean.

First of all, change your shower curtain every one to two month. A good rule of thumb.

Make sure you let your curtain air dry. You know, sometimes you push it aside and there's a lot of folds in between.

LIN: Oh, that's a good point.

FIRFER: Well, yes, it can't dry in between, so pull it closed almost all the way, let a little air get in there. And also if you have like a pretty sort of decorative shower curtain and a liner, keep that decorative part on the outside of the bathtub, so it doesn't get wet and mold or bacteria can't build up on that.

Change or clean your shower head every year. Bacteria can build up on the shower head as well.

LIN: Oh, I didn't think about that.

FIRFER: So, either change it or take it down and clean it with a wire brush to get into the little holes with some detergent. That will help.

LIN: Right.

FIRFER: And also, keep your bathroom door open during -- or after your shower so that the moist air can dissipate, because, as I said, bacteria loves to thrive and grow in that kind of atmosphere.

And get this one. I know this is going to sound really gross. But we lose 1.5 million skin cells an hour. An hour. And that's normal. That's average, not a big deal. But sometimes those loofahs and those rags you have in the shower help you sort of get rid of all, you know, the dirt and everything. Also, those skin cells and bacteria can build up on those, so make sure you clean your loofahs, your rags, those little nail brushes, and make sure they air dry completely. You don't want those germs to sort of thrive in that warm, moist area.

And one more thing. That towel that you're using, how often do you change your towel? Well, it doesn't look dirty, and you figure, well, I'm wiping myself off because I'm clean after the shower. You should be changing your towel every couple of days, if not more. They found bacteria on the towel and, it will kind of gross you out, but a little bit of fecal matter...

LIN: Oh, god, Holly!

FIRFER: ... because you're cleaning and drying all parts. It's the healthy net.

LIN: All right.

FIRFER: We have to tell you this but...

LIN: All right.

FIRFER: I mean, truly...

LIN: It's (UNINTELLIGIBLE)?

FIRFER: Yes. You know, just let it air dry.

LIN: Yes.

FIRFER: Make sure you air dry it all the way, too.

LIN: OK.

FIRFER: Easy tips. We're not going to die. It's just sort of that water cooler type, did you know?

LIN: Yes.

FIRFER: Yes, sorry to gross you out.

LIN: And if you're out there dating, it's a good way to kind of gauge your partner. All right. FIRFER: Good point.

LIN: Thanks very much, Holly Firfer.

FIRFER: Sure.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.