Re. Sickness bugs, hygiene etc.

[Rosesandstars]

I have diagnosed OCD and wash my hands lots of times a day. The last time I had a sickness bug was in 2006. Some blood types are immune to certain viruses such as Norovirus (e.g. people with type B blood lack H1-antigen and are resistant to most stomach bugs!) but I have type O blood, which makes me very prone to bugs and used to catch sickness bugs a lot in childhood until my OCD took hold.

I have a theory that people who are naturally not prone to sickness bugs, notice that they rarely get sick so wash their hands less often and then think that the exposure to germs is helping their immune systems in some way and wonder whether this makes any sense?

So just wondering- how often do you wash your hands each day? How often do you get sickness bugs?

That's interesting about type-B blood and stomach bugs. I hmam B+ and I've not had a stomach bug for decades. I've cleaned up my DC's sick when she's caught something at nursery/school and haven't got sick myself (and we have not always been strict about disinfecting everything afterwards). I would sometimes catch colds from her but not always.

I wash hands regularly after getting home, after the toilet and before food prep. But often eat lunch out and about, and don't manage to wash hands and don't like using sanitiser. We don't use disinfectant sprays at home, usually just washing up liquid and water, and I've been relaxed about my DCs putting things in their mouths (e.g. toy dropped on floor). They are hardly ever off sick from school/nursery (I send them in with coughs and colds but keep off for fever and D&V, my eldest is 5 and has had a total of 6 days off from nursery or school over 3 years attending). I have had them attending lots of different groups and classes since they were babies, even through the Covid years, so they were exposed to a lot of different viruses and illness.

I am probably considered lax at hand washing, rarely remember to wash them before eating. In fact I would only wash them if they looked dirty to me (I grew up on a farm so you can imagine!) and have never used hand sanitiser because it stinks and really drys my hands out.
I can't remember the last stomach bug I had and I haven't had covid yet despite my child bringing it home from school.
I don't disagree that hygiene stops the spread of bugs but our immune systems also do a pretty good job if we let them.

Thanks all!

im Probably a bit lax (but not grossly so I don’t think!) about hand washing. Not had a stomach bug since the 1980s…I worked at a school that was shutdown by H&S because at a norovirus situation. Didn’t get it.
I’m A+ (though as a PP has said, that’s irrelevant).

Type O and have the constitution of a vulture, but I put that down to growing up with horses, dogs, cats etc and having a laissez-faire approach towards hygiene.

I'm never ill (apart from hangovers, but they're self-inflicted).