When Emely woke up in the morning, she rolled over in her bed, stretched and took a deep breath with which she inhaled thousands of dust mite particles. She coughed and her eyes started itching a little bit. Damn dust allergy!
She left the bed and got ready for work. In the bus on the way there, somebody a few steps away sneezed. Emely could feel the tiny droplets that left the person’s nose settling on her skin and shuddered. Catching a cold now would be really bad.
As soon as she touched the door handle to her workplace, several strains of Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli und Klebsiella Pneumoniae attached to her skin and traveled with her inside.
On the way to her desk, she stumbled across Peter.
”Hey Peter, Happy Birthday!” She greeted him, ignored the outstretched hand and went for a hug. Not only was it more personal, she was pretty sure that she avoided a significant number of germs that way. Shaking someone’s hand was disgusting.
What she didn’t know was that a handshake had an about 0.019% probability of transferring a pathogen.
The apple she then ate for breakfast was far more dangerous, as several kinds of fungi clung to the outside, just waiting to make the apple start rotting. Emely devoured them with gusto.
It was a long day at work and Emely came home late. But when she entered her apartment, a surprise was waiting for her.
”Hello, my sweetheart”, her boyfriend greeted her, pulling her into a hug. Emely hugged back and they exchanged a passionate kiss – and about 80 million bacteria.
Sources:
Dust Allergy
In the cloud: How coughs and sneezes float farther than you think
BACTERIAL CONTAMINATION OF DOOR HANDLES/KNOBS
Improbable research: a handy guide to passing on pathogens
Major Pathogens of Post-Harvested Fruits and Vegetables
Shaping the oral microbiota through intimate kissing
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