There are a number of errors in the topic of health protection, in which it is widely known that “the source of infection can only survive in the environment for a short period of time without fear”. Is that really true? Let’s find out what happened today.
First, the ability to survive in the environment varies greatly among different types of infections. In the case of common influenza viruses, the influenza virus can survive for hours or even days on the surface of an object at appropriate temperature conditions, such as 20-25 degrees Celsius and 40-60 per cent relative humidity. This means that in public places, if a flu patient is exposed to a hand, doorknob, etc., subsequent users touch their noses and mouths if they do not pay attention to cleaning their hands in a timely manner, at high risk of infection. Like the Norovirus, it is more resilient, it survives several weeks on the surface of an object, withstands a range of temperature and acidity changes, and is prone to concentrated infections in densely populated places such as schools, restaurants, etc.
The sources of bacterial infections are equally important. For example, the golden fungus, which survives for months in a dry environment, can be attached to items such as clothing, towels and, once the human skin is broken, it can take the opportunity to enter and cause infection, to the extent that it is local skin inflammation and to the extent that it is acutely infected. There is also the nodule branch bacterium, which survives for several months to several years in a dark and humid environment, and in a poorly ventilated indoor environment, such as old houses, crowded dormitories, etc., where tuberculosis patients live, the risk of infection among subsequent occupants increases significantly.
Even some viruses considered to be relatively “vulnerable”, such as the new cap virus, although they have a relatively short lifetime in a high-temperature, dry and UV irradiated environment, can survive for hours or longer in low-temperature, low-moisture environments, especially smooth surfaces such as some metals and plastics. During cold-chain transport, there have been several cases of new coronal viruses that have survived and led to the spread of articles.
These sources of infection, which survive in the environment, can enter the human body in many ways, in terms of transmission. In addition to common exposures, such as touching contaminated objects with hands before contact with mucous membranes such as mouth, nose, eyes, etc., and indirect transmissions that fall into the surface of the object. In hospital settings, if medical devices are not fully sterilized, residual sources of infection may also be directly in the patient ‘ s body.
How, then, should we respond to the potential threat from the source of infection in the environment? It is essential to clean up every day. In the home environment, frequent contact surfaces, such as desktops, door handles, remote controls, etc., are regularly cleaned and can be wiped with alcohol-containing disinfectant towels or chlorinated disinfectants at appropriate concentrations. In public places, such as malls, schools, offices, etc., the frequency and intensity of cleaning and disinfection efforts are increased, especially during the high influenza season or during the epidemic. Personal hygiene practices cannot be ignored, as hand-washing is one of the most effective protections, using soap and mobile water, which, in accordance with the correct method of hand-washing, takes no less than 20 seconds at a time and effectively removes the source of the infection that may be contaminated with the hand. When respiratory infectious diseases are prevalent, the wearing of masks reduces the risk of fumigation and inhalation of airborne aerosols.
Thus, “the source of the infection survives only for a short time in the environment, without fear” is a false perception. We must be fully aware of the viability and spread risks of the source of the infection in the environment and take effective and scientific measures to protect ourselves and others better.
