Contents:
- Medical Video: 6 Things You Should Never Do After Eating
- How are diseases transmitted through cutlery?
- What are the risks of being transmitted through cutlery?
- 1. Strep throat
- 2. Mumps
- 3. Influenza
- 4. Inflammation of the lining of the brain (meningitis)
- 5. Oral herpes (HSV)
- Are sharing eating utensils at risk for HIV?
Medical Video: 6 Things You Should Never Do After Eating
Eating with the people closest to you is a precious moment where you can share stories and laughter. In addition, you also usually share and taste each other's food or drink. Because you are familiar, you may immediately sip a drink from your friend's glass. Or if the food your sister ordered looks interesting, you will taste it with the spoon your sister uses.
For some people, sharing eating utensils with others is a form of friendship and intimacy. However, mutual borrowing of utensils such as spoons, forks, straws, or drinking bottles turned out to be at risk of causing disease transmission. The problem is, sometimes people who suffer from infectious diseases themselves have not realized that they have contracted a disease because the symptoms have not yet appeared. To find out what are the effects of sharing cutlery, read on the following explanation.
How are diseases transmitted through cutlery?
Various types of germs, viruses, and bacteria that cause infectious diseases live in saliva (saliva). Whether realized or not, saliva will naturally move from the mouth to the eating utensils that come in direct contact with the mouth, such as spoons, forks, chopsticks and bottle lips. Germs, viruses, and bacteria contained in saliva can survive for hours even after being contaminated with air and touching eating utensils. When you use eating utensils alternately with other people, you run the risk of contracting various viruses attached to the cutlery.
What are the risks of being transmitted through cutlery?
Indeed, not all infectious diseases are spread through mutual borrowing of cutlery. However, you must be aware of several types of infectious diseases that can move through the following cutlery because the risk can be fatal.
1. Strep throat
Strep throat is caused by an infection of Streptococcus bacteria that occurs in the throat. Usually children aged 5-15 years are more susceptible to this disease, but do not rule out the possibility of people in any age range being infected with step throat. This disease is characterized by sore throats, fever, abdominal pain, and pain in the joints and muscles.
2. Mumps
Mumps or mumps is a disease that is transmitted by a virus that attacks the parotid gland which is responsible for producing saliva. People who get this disease will experience swelling of the cheeks, jaw, and neck area accompanied by high fever, stiff muscles, and loss of appetite. Usually new symptoms of mumps will appear 16 to 18 days after the infection occurred. So even if other people look healthy, you will not know what diseases and viruses are lodged in other people's bodies or even yourself.
3. Influenza
Influenza or flu is a respiratory disorder that easily spreads through the air, eating utensils, and personal items such as towels and toothbrushes. Transmission that occurs through this virus can occur about one day before you show symptoms of influenza. Symptoms include coughing, fever, runny nose, and headaches.
4. Inflammation of the lining of the brain (meningitis)
This one disease is caused by a bacterial infection which results in inflammation and swelling of the meninges that protects the brain and spinal cord. Meningitis is serious and can cause death. Transmission of bacteria that cause this disease is not as easy as influenza, but if your immune system is not good, you are more at risk of contracting meningitis. Signs shown by the sufferer include nausea, vomiting, and becoming dazed.
5. Oral herpes (HSV)
Be careful if you drink from the lip of a bottle or straw that has come into contact with the mouth of another person. Herpes, also known as the herpes simplex virus (HSV), can be transmitted through sores or sores that occur in a person's mouth, tongue or lips. If these wounds come into contact with the mouth of the bottle or the straw you are using, you risk getting this disease. The symptoms you need to observe are itching or burning in the area of the mouth, sore throat when swallowing, and fever. After that the infected skin or mouth will appear blister and festering.
Are sharing eating utensils at risk for HIV?
Maybe you've heard that by sharing cutlery, you can get HIV. In fact, this is nothing more than a myth. The HIV virus cannot survive outside the human body for more than one second. The possibilities are very small. So, even if there is a virus attached to your spoon or fork, the virus will immediately die before you touch it. In addition, saliva does not contain many HIV viruses. This virus is more commonly found in blood, semen, and vaginal fluids.
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