Workplace Harbors Infection

People spend a long time at work, often remaining indoors without the fresh outdoor air. This means that the workplace is the perfect place to grow bacteria and to harbor viruses. This is the place where many people are getting sick. Have you heard of “sick building syndrome”?

It’s when the workplace has been shut away from good ventilation for so long that fungi, bacteria and viruses, not to mention environmental toxins, just remain in high quantities within the air of the building.

A recent research study cofounded between the University of Arizona and the San Diego University tested about 90 offices in three cities. What they found were 500 or more species of bacteria—which was about the same as seen in bathrooms and in aircraft.

The surfaces mostly covered with bacteria were chairs and telephones, although the researchers also swabbed computer mice, desktops and keyboards. The researchers found that humans were the major source of bacterial abundance in offices. This skin, nose and mouth harbor trillions of microorganisms per person which spread bacteria through sneezing, touching your nose or mouth and touching a surface or having skin shed bacteria through contact and skin flakes.

The bacteria found only reside on skin, the mouth and in the nose and so they are the most likely sources of bacteria. Some were very hardy bacteria; others were not so hardy and may not survive to infect anyone else. Some die off quickly while there are those that can hang on for several years, infecting those who later come in contact with them. In many cases, it all depends on how much light the bacterium is exposed to. Bacteria seem to better tolerate life in moist and dark areas.

Some bacteria form spores when conditions aren’t right for multiplying. These form seed-like pods that resist drying out and don’t need external nutrition. When conditions are right, they can reproduce many months or years later. Streptococcus, the same bacterium that causes strep throat, tends to dry out and die off right away. Enterococcus can cause bladder infections and diverticulitis; can last for weeks at many different temperatures. Staphylococcus species are bacteria that have many species. They dry out very slowly and can last for a long time.

Golden staphylococcus species can cause skin infections, meningitis and pneumonia. Clostridium difficile can cause a diarrheal illness. It also forms spores which mean it can reside on surfaces for a very long time. There are also healthy bacteria that keep the bad bacteria away and we don’t want to get rid of every possible bacterium. If we do that, we’d get sick from lack of protection by good bacteria.