Swine Flu Anxiety?

How to dodge those germs

Whether you call it “mysophobia,” “germophobia,” “bacillophobia,” or “bacteriophobia,” this Swine Flu has got lots of people here in San Diego just plain scared of contact with dirt and germs. My goodness, even the rabbi at the synagogue I attended in L.A. refused to shake hands with his congregants this year’s High Holiday services!

Monk, the fictional police detective, Howie Mandel and Howard Hughes are all famously germophobic. But you, your next door neighbor and millions of Americans have joined the club of concerned Purell and Germ-X appliers and are taking a hard look at kitchen sponges, computer keyboards, dirty laundry, gym machines, shopping carts, elevator buttons, and grocery check-out line counters.

Microscopic bacteria, viruses, fungi and protozoa have risen to the top of many of our minds as we stare in panic at an outstretched hand that’s waiting to be shaken. Many stores and yes, even my waiting room, now offer free alcohol-based hand sanitizer. Admit it, you’re more frequently using your elbows to push elevator buttons, open bathroom doors, doing more fist bumping than hugs and kisses and buying up those hand-sanitizers at CVS, Walmart and Walgreens. In fact, sales of alcohol-based hand sanitizers are up 17 percent as of the first week of September compared to the same period last year.

For people who have any type of significant anxiety, including OCD (Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder) about contamination and germs, times like these are especially difficult. The line between the worries of people with OCD and normal concerns can be quite fuzzy. Worries about a possible pandemic from swine flu make the line even blurrier than usual.

The County of San Diego recently released information pertaining to swine flu. H1N1 influenza was detected in San Diego County this past spring. It has persisted in our region and continues to be widespread throughout the county, according to officials. The number of hospitalizations and deaths due to H1N1 influenza increased steadily through the summer. To date, there have been 284 H1N1 hospitalizations and 22 H1N1-related deaths. The number of H1N1-related deaths now equals the highest number of seasonal flu deaths ever reported in the county. According to the Centers for Disease Control, as many as 40 percent of Americans could contract the H1N1 virus this flu season. To date, 24 school districts have indicated an interest in delivering the vaccines at school sites. Furthermore, about 450 health providers and businesses in the county have registered with the state to give the H1N1 vaccine at their facilities. More information can be found locally at www.sdiz.org or by calling 2-1-1 San Diego.

Current conditions may have you wondering:
• Should I wash my hands every 10 minutes?
• Should I wash for at least 15 minutes each time?
• Should I use a mix of harsh bleach, alcohol and soap each time I wash?
• Should I wear a mask everywhere I go?
• Should I confine myself to my house for the next couple of months?

As guidelines currently exist, the preceding list represents obsessive-compulsive behaviors. So what are reasonable precautions to take for now? I reviewed the CDC recommendations and as of today, they suggest:
• Cover your nose when you sneeze.
• Wash your hands often, especially after sneezing.
• Use soap or alcohol-based hand cleaner.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth prior to washing your hands or using sanitizer.
• Stay away from obviously sick people.
• Stay home if you’re sick.
• Call your doctor for advice if you feel sick.

I was recently at Whole Foods in La Jolla and watched people taking shopping carts right next to a conveniently placed stand filled with antimicrobial/antibacterial wipes. Lots of people used them.

Should you be worried about touch and go with a supermarket cart? It depends on your immune system. For healthy people, the shopping cart handle is not a likely source of microbes. But with those with altered immunity, cleaning that cart handle is a smart thing to do. On carts, it's unlikely you'll pick up respiratory organisms — such as H1N1 (swine) flu — which tend to spread when people shake hands and have close contact with an infected person who coughs or sneezes. Those germs don't live very long on surfaces.

And even the scariest of bugs can be controlled through old-fashioned “sing ‘Happy Birthday’ two times” hand washing. Given our work environment, where the average office desk may be home to 400 times more germs than the average toilet seat, washing our hands and using the well-known hand sanitizers makes sense and is not a sign of OCD, but of common sense. One investigation in Arizona found that women’s offices had more than twice the bacteria of their male counterparts. This included their makeup cases, phones and purses. But the superbug MRSA was found more often in men’s offices on phones, computer mice, desktops and in the bottom of desk drawers.

So what are the real chances of picking up an infectious disease from the myriad of germs we come into contact with daily? One New York infectious disease specialist recently stated, “Millions of people touch things every day and nothing happens, so just use common sense. There’s a bigger risk of being injured in a taxicab.”

Doctors now think that just one dose, rather than two, of the new swine flu vaccine looks strong enough to protect adults. I might still demand the second dose, but…I don’t want to look like a pig.

So if all of this swine flu talk has raised your anxiety, there’s always humor — not that anyone getting ill is something to laugh about, especially when it can lead to death. But for those of you who do want a dose of antibacterial humor, there is — of course — an iPhone app of swine flu jokes.

Stay healthy!

For more than 30 years, Dr. Mantell has successfully been bringing upbeat, friendly and helpful psychological insights to individuals, families and businesses in San Diego as a clinical and corporate psychologist in private practice. He's been a regular on Good Morning America, KFMB-TV News 8, has appeared on Oprah, Larry King Live, the Today show, authored two best-selling books and speaks regularly for audiences throughout the country. He can be found on Facebook and Twitter.

 

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