10 Facts about Germs that you probably didn't know of!

Size matters? I am not sure what you are thinking about right now, but size doesn’t matter. You may ask, WHY? Think of it, what is the size of the novel coronavirus which caused the COVID-19 pandemic? Isn’t it a small microbe? Germs are microorganisms that are capable of doing far larger tasks like infecting other organisms (irrespective of their size) when compared to their smaller sizes. They are also termed pathogens. In this article, we will be listing out 10 facts about these germs that you may have not heard before. So, let’s discuss this without any further ado. 

FACT 1 - What distance do they cover?

If you line up these germs from one end to another, they cover a distance that would be billions of light-years! For your information, a light-year is a distance that light covers in a year! Also, light travels at a speed of 186,000 miles or 300,000 km per second! So, just imagine the number of germs that exist! Do you know there are more viruses than stars! Check out more such amazing facts in the following article on viruses for more details.

FACT 2 - Most Germs adapt ASAP!

Especially, bacteria & viruses adapt super fast to most conditions. Even in the harshest conditions, bacteria and other germ types can stay alive & adapt accordingly. These germs can be found in every corner of the earth’s surface! Even in the ice & the warm hot springs. These germs are also found in space. Most of which were carried unintentionally by spacecraft. Germs have also been found in radioactive waste. 

It has been found that most germs develop resistance to their medicine. Due to this, medicines fail to neutralize their targets. This adaptive resistance can be passed on, making the consumption of medicines completely useless. This has been the case with many antibiotics for which their target bacteria have developed resistance.   

You can check out our blog on natural disinfectants that eliminate germs.

FACT 3 - Found in hundreds of shapes & sizes

Germs can be classified into bacteria, viruses, fungi, protozoa, and many others. Due to this, they are found in many shapes & sizes. They are found in the most common as well as the most bizarre shapes one may imagine! The most common shapes of these germs are rod, cylindrical, filament, rectangular, spherical, oval, round, and spiral. They are also many germs that are found in the following shapes: horn, star, helical, club, comma, lobe, spindle, curving, corkscrew, sword, sword in a sheath, shield, line, and the list are on & on! There are even germs that can assume different shapes and sizes. 

Talking about bacterial germs, they are classified based on their shapes. The below table consists of the classification -

The Shape of Bacteria	Classification Name
Round & Slightly Flat	Coccus
Rod-shaped or Cylindrical	Bacilli
Corkscrew-shaped	Spirilla
Filament-shaped	Filamentous
Strangely shaped	Appendaged or Budding
Box-shaped or Rectangular	Arcula
Randomly shaped	Pleomorphic
Sword-shaped (in a sheath)	Trichomes
Spindle-shaped	Fusiform

FACT 4 - What about Germs on our Body?

Is your body free of germs? Are there germs on your body? What is the number? Is it safe? Well, well! Hold on if you are pondering over it. It is a fact that our body is full of germs! Our interaction with the environment causes the exchange of these germs. Who knows? Maybe these germs consider our body as their home! Let’s scan through a few facts.

• Where do the germs lurk more? Hands or fingertips? There are at least about a million germs on our fingertips. And another million germs on our elbows. Imagine the number of germs on your hands! Well, actually the number of germs on our hands ranges from 100,000 to 5,00,000. There are 30,000 to 30,00,000 germs just on our teeth (if your mouth is clean). 
• What would be the effect of washing our hands on the germs? It has been found that damp hands can spread germs over 1000 times more than drier ones. Do you want to know more about handwashing? Check out this blog on handwashing.
• It has been found out that germs can survive anywhere between 10 mins to 3 hours on our hands.
• What’s the effect on the number of germs after one uses the toilet? According to research, the number of germs may nearly double on your fingertips!

FACT 5 - What’s the reproduction rate of Germs?

Whereas, a seahorse can give birth to up to 2000 babies at a single time! Ants can produce anywhere up to 5 million eggs in a month! A mola (a type of fish) can release about 300 million eggs in a single spawn. Are you wondering why we have mentioned these facts? It is because a single germ may reproduce (multiplication) up to 10 million germs in a single day! And remember there are a million of them on your elbow!

FACT 6 - Which body part spreads germs the most?

Most of them may guess the answer right. It is hands that spread nearly about 75% to 80% of germs. This is the reason behind the emphasis on hand hygiene. Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, the spread of novel coronavirus was majorly due to hands. Washing hands with soap & water were highly recommended. This is the reason why the CDC  recommends the use of hand sanitizer wherever handwash with soap & water is not possible. Check out our pocket-sized hand sanitizer with 70% alcohol which kills just about every other germ including the novel coronavirus too!

FACT 7 - Where do the germs lurk the most?

I am sure that most of you must have guessed toilet! But the winner is…. TV remote control! As much as it sounds vague, it is the remote control that has the highest number of germs over it. It is followed by a mobile phone, laptop keyboard, cutting board, office desk, and then the toilet seat.

FACT 8 - What happens when you flush the toilet?

Ohh it's surely a roller-coaster ride for the germs. It's because they can reach up to 6 feet (or about 2 meters) in height when you flush the toilet!

FACT 9 - Liplock or Handshake? Which one spreads more germs?

You must have surely heard that a lip lock causes the spread of germs. Well, the truth is a handshake spreads more germs than a lip lock. So, go for a lip lock wherever possible! Umm, don’t worry, you can alternatively even do a fist bump or a namaste would work as well!

FACT 10 - What happens when you plug in your headphones?

When you use your headphones for an hour, the number of germs gets increased by at least 500 times the existing number.

Conclusion

Microorganisms are really interesting. They are abundantly found on the earth and almost everywhere! We truly live in a world full of microorganisms! Even our body houses at least 1000 species of microorganisms! The ones that harm other organisms are called pathogens. These germs can cause the biggest catastrophes as well! The largest & the deadliest were the Spanish flu pandemic (1918-1919) and the most irritating & the recent one is the COVID-19 pandemic. I hope that these facts were able to add value to your life, maybe just add a bit of knowledge in your brain about these pesky little creatures!