nanobugs blog ...microbes with attitude!

Back to School Sale - Get a free shirt or apron when you buy one

Nancy — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 00:00:00 -0500

Hey, students: Don’t take the nanobugs back to school with you instead, wear them on your T-shirt. During August and September, if you buy a nanobugs t-shirt in the online store, you get a second one free! We will send it automatically with your order. And if you want the second shirt to be a different size from the first, just fill in your name and the size in "contact us".

Hey, teachers: Get the school year off to an healthy start. Teach your students proper cough and sneeze etiquette with the help of the nanobugs Training Shirt.

Buy one during August and September in the nanobugs online store and get another one free for a colleague or the school nurse. And if you need a different size for the second shirt – just place the order and then click on Contact Us and tell us your name and the size for the free shirt under “comments”

Hey, lunch ladies: Wear a nanobugs apron to remind students and co-workers of the importance of preventing foodborne illness . For each apron you order in August and September in the online store, we will send another one to you free.

Back to school for kids and nanobugs

Nancy — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 00:00:00 -0500

The kids are back in school and so are the nanobugs! When we bring large numbers of people together in the same place -like a school- and they spend the day together – each contributing their own nanobugs - the environment can get overloaded with microbes – some pathogenic (disease-producing) and many non-pathogenic. Now, don’t get paranoid – nanobugs are an important part of our internal and external environment. Bacteria are found not only in and on people but in all living creatures and they also live and thrive in water and on the earth. In fact, a teaspoon of rich fertile soil contains over one hundred million bacteria! Do you suppose there is a teaspoon of dirt dispersed over a kid who has been playing hard outside? Probably not; but keeping children clean is important for their health. I’m not suggesting that we try to create a sterile environment for them – just knock the bacterial count down from time to time (preferably daily). .Hand hygiene is the best way to prevent infections and keep the nanobugs under control. You have to teach and consistently remind children about hand hygiene and role model good technique. As soon as children arrive home from school they should be sent to the bathroom to wash their hands. (And parents should wash when they get home from work, too). Hand hygiene must be done often and correctly. Here’s how:.Hand Washing with Soap and Water:

Wet your hands with warm, running water and then apply liquid soap, or use a clean bar of soap and lather well.
Rub your hands together vigorously for at least 15 seconds (slowly sing the Happy Birthday song to estimate the time needed to scrub) lathering all surfaces, including the backs of your hands, wrists, between your fingers and under your fingernails.
Rinse well from wrists down to fingertips. Don’t shake and flip water around after rinsing – this seems to be a natural response much like a dog shaking from head to toes when it gets wet. Resist the temptation.
Dry your hands with a clean towel. In a public restroom, leave the water running while you dry your hands with a paper towel and then use the towel to turn off the faucet. (Faucet handles are often heavily contaminated in public restrooms so you don’t want to touch them again with your clean hands)

Hand hygiene can also be accomplished with an alcohol-based liquid, gel or foam if your hands are not visibly dirty. (If they are, use soap and water wash instead)

Apply the hand sanitizer to the palm of your hand and rub your hands together, covering all surfaces of your hands, until they are dry.

It is best to bathe or shower at night before sleeping to remove the nanobugs collected at school and the playground so they don’t multiply overnight. Remember- bacteria like a warm dark moist environment for growth and multiplication. And no pets in the bed with sleeping children – this facilitates the sharing of accumulated microbes like staph and strep increasing the microbial count of the bed environment where they spend 8+ hours a day.

Earth Day 2010

Nancy — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 00:00:00 -0500

Today we celebrate the 40^th Earth Day! I am wearing my Earth Day tee-shirt that says, ”Earth Day- Celebrate Everyday”. I planted some flowers in the planter in the front yard this morning and I plan to continue the celebration on Saturday with more transplanting and yard primping. I want to take this opportunity to recognize the millions of nanobugs that inhabit the soil and promote decay and enrichment of the soil. I think most humans forget the positive contribution that microbes make to the cycles of life outdoors. I hope you can get your hands in the soil today and participate in tending the Earth. (Be sure to wash those hands when you are finished) Today go beyond your appreciation of the beautiful blooming trees and flowers - and appreciate the often-forgotten microbes that support The Earth and her vegetation. Go,nanobugs!

Food Safety with Outdoor Grilling

Nancy — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 00:00:00 -0500

Spring is here and our leisure time now includes more outdoor activities. Cooking meat and vegetables on an outdoor grill is a cherished activity of many American families. It is good for our health and seems to be effective in bringing families together for meals around the picnic table as well as the kitchen table. But food safety is an important goal with outdoor grilling as well as indoor cooking. The warm weather outdoors presents some added challenges related to cooking outdoors. There are some foodborne nanobugs that can spoil the fun if they are allowed to go unchecked in our food preparation process especially in the warm weather months. The major culprits are: E. coli O157:H7, Salmonella enteritidis, Campylobacter jejuni and Norovirus. Let’s look at the topic of food safety with outdoor cooking and grilling in weekly segments and then I will offer some additional tips throughout the Summer.

Grilling is a food preparation process which begins at the grocery store. Make the grocery shopping your last stop because meat and poultry should not be out of controlled refrigeration more than 2 hours normally and less than one hour when the temperatures outside are above 90 degrees F. If meat and poultry are unrefrigerated too long bacteria grow rapidly. Some bacteria produce toxins that can cause illness even when the food is finally cooked. When shopping, collect meat and poultry last and non-perishables first. Many grocery stores are designed with a layout that facilitates this order to shopping. Purchase ground meat and poultry no more than one or 2 days before you grill it. Otherwise freeze the items. Grill larger cuts of meat such as steaks within 4 days of purchase or freeze them. Don’t put your perishables in the trunk of the car to transport home. The temperature inside the trunk is too hot in the summer and bacteria will grow rapidly. I keep a cooler in my trunk during the Spring and Summer months in which to protect frozen and cold foods during the trip home from the grocery store. Refrigerate meat and poultry immediately upon arrival at home. In the refrigerator, place meat and poultry on the bottom shelf to prevent cross-contamination from meat juices escaping from the packaging and dripping on raw food items below. The refrigerator should be maintained at 40 degrees F.

Stay focused and intend to be….infection-free!

A Dog’s Life – Maggie Mae and Snoopy

Nancy — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500

Today is Maggie Mae’s first birthday! Maggie is not a nanobug and not a cartoon – she is my real live Beagle puppy. I discovered that 2010 also includes the celebration of the 60^th birthday of a more famous Beagle – Snoopy. Snoopy is the most wonderful cartoon character created by Charles Schultz in his comic strip- Peanuts. Wikipedia sites October 4,1950 as Snoopy’s cartoon birth date (when he first appeared in the cartoon). Evidently, Schultz wanted to call the dog “Sniffy” but that name was already assigned to another dog in another comic strip. He settled on the infamous name of “Snoopy” – his late mother’s idea to name their next dog. It is an affectionate term in Norwegian. It’s hard to imagine the dog we know as Snoopy with any other name – but as comedian, Dave Barry says, “a Beagle is just a nose with four legs”. I would have to agree on that and suggest that all Beagles be assigned a middle name of Sniffy.

Personification with characterization – especially in a novel cartoon format - is such an effective tool for entertaining and educating if the characterization is accurate. This is the basis for the development of the nanobugs: cartoon microbes that entertain and educate people of all ages about practical microbiology. Cartoonists gave a voice to their characters with “thought balloons” or “speech bubbles”. We have gone a step further and animated the nanobugs giving them a characteristic statement (one-liner) to reinforce their activity/behavior – whether it is positive or negative in relation to human health.

Happy Birthday to Maggie Mae.….and many more!

Take a minute (or 10) today and reminisce about Snoopy via Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snoopy. I guarantee you will be smiling.

Bacteria Hiding in Cigarettes

Nancy — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 00:00:00 -0600

The University of Maryland School of Public Health recently published a study in the journal, Environmental Health Perspectives. The goal of the study was to search for microbes in 4 common brands of American cigarettes. Fifteen different classes of bacteria and a broad range of potential pathogens were detected in all of the cigarette samples. 90% of all samples detected these familiar nanobugs: Acinetobacter, Clostridium, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Serratia , Klebsiella, Burkholderia and Bacillus. Over the years, studies have shown as association between smoking and an increased risk of lung infections. However, this is the first study to show that cigarettes themselves could be the direct source of exposure to a wide array of potential pathogens among smokers and other people exposed to secondhand smoke. The specific public health implications of this study are unclear and further studies are needed to determine if the bacteria present is cigarettes actually causes respiratory infection. It is also interesting to read other studies that detected more bacterial pathogens (disease-producing microbes) in the oral cavity of smokers and the children of smokers compared with non-smokers and their children. In fact, smokers have been shown to be 18 times more likely to harbor bacterial pathogens in their mouths than non-smokers.

These findings don’t really surprise me – they just reinforce my healthy choices to: remain a non-smoker, to avoid breathing secondhand smoke and to avoid kissing smokers. Maybe holiday parties should differentiate mistletoe for smokers and non-smokers.

Unique Educational Toys and Tools to Enhance a Family Health Initiative

Nancy — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0600

All this talk about health insurance reform – it seems that Americans have lost sight of the goal – HEALTH. It seems that everyone has become so focused upon controlling the management and financing of sickness that they have forgotten that they DO have control of their health. Sickness is NOT inevitable. It’s important to teach our children how to manage their health and avoid sickness and infection. Parents will need to expand their knowledge base for health promotion, too. This means learning more about microbiology and infection prevention, anatomy and physiology of the human body, nutrition and food safety, and behaviors that enhance wellness and reduce risk of disease. The nanobugs can teach the entire family about infection prevention and microbiology while they entertain and engage young and old.

Last week we had a request from and Lincoln, NE mother for a DVD that plays the animations of the nanobugs as they appear in the menagerie on the website She wants to use this DVD to educate and entertain her children in the van/SUV. What a great idea – to make use of that transport time for learning about the nanobug characters and their good or bad influence on our health. I now have visions of families moving about town singing the nanobugs songs and “rapping” with Hepatitis A. Then add a nanobugs card collection and you’ve got children engaged in independent learning about microbiology. We are quickly creating the requested nanobugs DVD and will offer it on the website store next week. But on CyberMonday – November 30^th through December 7^th – we will provide a free nanobugs DVD to customers who order a card collection. Just click on “contact us” on the website (immediately after you place your order) and say “send me the nanobugs DVD with my card collection”. Let the nanobugs help regain your family focus upon health and wellness – and have some laughs and smiles while your at it!

H1N1 Vaccinnation - Done!

Nancy — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0600

On Friday (11/20/09) I found an available dose of H1N1 vaccine and made good on my promise to get both seasonal and H1N1 vaccinations this year. 48 hours later I report- no side effects - not even pain at the injection site. I got plenty of rest over the weekend to give my immune system opportunity to do the job of generating antibodies. Of course, it takes about 10 days to complete the process and completely protect me - but by Thanksgiving I will be almost there. I am certainly thankful that I live in a place and time that makes this all possible. To have protection against a brand-new nanobug so quickly - evens up the score: previously, Nanobugs - 1 and now it's Infection Prevention 2+ and I win!

Protecting yourself from H1N1 infection

Nancy — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0500

Every newscast these days has a story with headlines alternating between, “Where is the H1N1 vaccine?” and “Most Americans in our survey said they are not planning to take the H1N1 vaccine because of fears about its safety”. Human beings are so fickle- they demand options but usually respond negatively with their choice. I know that while we wait for the vaccine, people are getting sick and some are even dying. But, I think it is important to stop blaming and complaining and spend our energy in planning and implementing an alternative strategy to protect ourselves and our families.

I can offer some of my logic and the rationale I used to develop my personal H1N1 infection prevention strategy. I am attempting to sleep more. The human immune system function is enhanced by rest and it is less effective if one is dealing with endless days and too much stress. So how do we eliminate or even reduce stress? Compromise on as many things as possible – at least for a few months. Cut the number of activities in your day so you can end it early and get more sleep. Some argue – they don’t have time to sleep. Well, if and when you get sick, you will have to sleep then. Personally, I would rather sleep well than sleep sick. And since I have affirmed this increase in sleep as a major element in my strategy – I am relieved of any guilt about limited productivity.

Hydration is a key to the effective functioning of mucous membranes so increasing my intake of water is a critical element in my plan. I start the day with a smile upon awakening and then drink a glass of water – to make up for the insensible water loss during the night with breathing and sweating. A glass of water before or with each meal helps hydration and compensate for the increased urination that goes with my intake of green tea throughout the day.

Green, white and black tea are great antioxidants and help control my appetite.

I drink Kefir every day (“plain” is better than sweetened varieties). Kefir is a source of probiotic bacteria and enhances the immune system. Adequate protein in my diet is important because antibodies and white blood cells are constructed from protein. Lots of fruits and veggies – real food – whole foods – are essential. I add small quantities of real organic lemon juice, grapefruit juice, or other unsweetened citrus juices. I end the day with chamomile tea to help me sleep well and counteract all the green tea I consumed. A multivitamin with plenty of vitamin C and D adds extra insurance.

Plenty of fresh air – walking the dog and the use of exercise equipment as a substitute on days of inclement weather – will help dilute and expel invading pathogens. Smiling, laughing, singing playing my recorder – even for brief periods throughout the day will keep my mood positive and contribute to feelings of wellbeing.

Now, you have probably read through my plan looking for some expensive or dramatic prevention tools, medicines or medical consultation and ended up disappointed to find only that same old advice you hear every year during “cold and flu season” – get plenty of rest, eat right, drink plenty of fluids and exercise.

Sorry. I think it is a tried-and-true strategy and it is based on promoting optimal functioning of these wonderful bodies we have been given. You got a better idea?

Seasonal Influenza Vaccination 2009 – Done!

Nancy — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0500

I did it today – got my flu shot. Since I am the only employee of nanobugs, inc. there is no formal influenza vaccination program. One of my part-time job employers notified me that they would reimburse me up to $25 if I got a flu shot. I decided to go to Walgreen’s for my vaccination. They advertised that you can make an appointment or walk in. I needed some items from the store anyway and so it was a very convenient – I could multi-task a trip to Walgreen’s. Even though there were many customers in the store at 11 AM on a Tuesday, the process was well-planned and executed. I filled out the usual form in the pharmacy at window #1 and paid at window #2 and the pharmacist gave the injection at window #3 as I sat on a stool and put my arm up on the counter. It worked well for me but might have been an uncomfortable position for an elderly person. The cost was $24.95 and I received documentation of the vaccination and a payment receipt. I spent the suggested 5 additional minutes in the store to insure that “if I had a reaction, the Pharmacist would be available to treat it”. That was a good way to put it, I thought.

Advice from CDC: take time to get a flu shot. Evidentially, the reason given my many people for not getting vaccinated is the time issue as well as access if your employer doesn’t offer the shots. Well, here is a nice program at the local drug store to overcome those obstacles -unless you are intentional about neglecting vaccination and will find any excuse to avoid the shot….then I could suggest the nasal route of administration with FluMist. That is offered, too.

I am off to bed early tonight. It is my tradition to follow the vaccination with a good night’s sleep. Knowing that the immune system works best when the body is sleeping, I hope to get the antibody production off to a good start tonight.