Everyone is talking about germ transmission and how to avoid it these days. As we work towards our new normal and get out of this quarantined life we have been living, it makes sense to try to study and understand how to better safeguard your home. Most people don’t even think about their shoes and the transmission of germs. After all, as long as you are not licking the bottom of your shoes, you are probably going to be fine, right?
Well, we started to look around for ourselves on how awful wearing your shoes are for germ transmission. For some households wearing your shoes indoors is pretty normal. While others might cringe at the idea and not really want their shoes all over their beautifully groomed carpets.
Some good bacteria news.
We all know that there are going to be germs on our shoes, both inside and out. But the outside ones are new ones that we have picked up along our journey. Sure, there are different types of germs from different places but the fact of the matter is, they are going to have germs. Did you know that some bacteria, or “germs” are good for you? Yes, that’s right. You have bacteria inside your body and on your skin at all times. In fact, you need it just as much as they need you to live. Most people don’t take this into consideration when they are thinking about germs.
Also, you were built with an immune system that carefully treats invading germs as our enemy. Your immunity will fend off all kinds of bad germs that get on you all day, every day. Most of the time you aren’t even aware of it. Most of us think of germs and disease in the same sentence. However, there are many germ transmissions that are not harmful at all. (1)
Not enough to make you sick on the soles of your shoes.
Sure we have tested the bacteria found on the bottom of footwear and have found in fact there are many bacteria units living on the bottom of our shoes. However, for the most part, these bacteria are not going to harm us. There is very little of any one type of bacteria on the bottom of your shoes. Which means any healthy immune system is going to take care of it without you knowing. In other words, you will not get sick from wearing your shoes in your home. Probably not even licking the soles of your shoes, however, we do not recommend this.
If you are traveling in public bathrooms and areas where there are animal feces you will see a higher level of E-coli on the bottom of your shoes. This bacteria is responsible for all kinds of diseases. To prevent this from spreading in your home you can not wear your shoes inside your home or you can wash them before entering your home. It is recommended that you wash the soles of your shoes for 12 minutes in the washing machine using detergent and air dry. This will eliminate the germ transmission and level of bacteria on the shoes by about 90% (2).
(1) https://www.livescience.com/32761-good-bacteria-boost-immune-system.html
(2) https://www.ciriscience.org/a_96-Study-Reveals-High-Bacteria-Levels-on-Footwear
The Editorial Team at Healthcare Business Today is made up of skilled healthcare writers and experts, led by our managing editor, Daniel Casciato, who has over 25 years of experience in healthcare writing. Since 1998, we have produced compelling and informative content for numerous publications, establishing ourselves as a trusted resource for health and wellness information. We offer readers access to fresh health, medicine, science, and technology developments and the latest in patient news, emphasizing how these developments affect our lives.
