The existence of invisible bacteria is important to follow the rules of hygiene. How did a person learn about the existence of microbes. bath screen

World of microbes

Among the huge variety of living creatures that surround man, there are creatures that he recognized relatively recently - about 300 years ago. These are microbes - the smallest organisms that are not visible to the naked eye. From time immemorial, people have encountered various manifestations of their vital activity. He suffered from great disasters caused by pathogenic microbes, used the work of some useful microbes, but he did not imagine at all that, in addition to plants and animals, in the world around him there are myriads of the smallest creatures, tirelessly doing destructive and creative work.

Only in recent decades has a general picture of the grandiose activity in nature of these simple forms of the existence of living matter, their role in the geological changes of our planet, their significance for medicine, agriculture, food industry and other sectors of the national economy begun to emerge. The work of domestic microbiologists played a leading role in the knowledge of microbes and their role in nature.

In this book, we will introduce the reader to what microbes are, how they live, how people have learned to fight harmful microbes and make beneficial microbes work for themselves, and what is the role of domestic science in resolving all these important questions for human practice.

How did humans know about the existence of microbes?

We cannot see germs with the naked eye. It depends on the structure of the human eye. The human eye cannot distinguish objects that are less than one tenth of a millimeter in size. Anything less than this value is inaccessible to the sharpest human eye. And the size of the vast majority of microbes is measured not in tenths, but in hundredths, thousandths and even ten-thousandths of a millimeter. It is no wonder that microbes remained invisible until that period of development of the productive forces of human society, until people mastered the technique of making magnifying glasses. Only the invention of optical microscopes allowed man to look into the previously unknown world of quantities.

The first person to reliably see microbes and inform people of their existence was Anton Leeuwenhoek, a Dutchman who lived in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. He was not a professional scientist; a cloth merchant, then a caretaker of the judicial chamber, in his spare time he was fond of making magnifying glasses and achieved perfection in this art. Its glasses, the size of a pinhead, were magnified up to 200 times. Leeuwenhoek was distinguished by curiosity and extraordinary perseverance in his scientific research. He examined a wide variety of bodies through his magnifying glasses, described and sketched the results of his observations. Examining with his magnifying glasses drops of rainwater from a barrel, rotten hay tincture, he observed a huge number of some tiny bodies moving briskly in a drop. “I examined,” writes Leeuwenhoek, “the mucus that lies between the teeth of a person, and I saw, to my great surprise, that in the mucus there were tiny creatures distinguished by extraordinary mobility.” The main thing that struck him was the myriad of these creatures. “In the whole of the United Kingdom (i.e., Holland) there will not be as many inhabitants as there are living animals in my own mouth,” Leeuwenhoek wrote.

Levenguk combined all his observations in the book “The Secrets of Nature Discovered with the Microscope”, which he published in Latin in 1695. In the copies of this book that have survived to this day, there are images and descriptions of these “animals”, in which you can easily to recognize not only large, but also the smallest creatures visible in optical microscopes - bacteria.

So for the first time a simple person, a self-taught scientist, discovered microbes, which later turned out to be representatives of the most common living creatures on our planet.

Leeuwenhoek's discoveries interested not only scientists, but also many inquisitive people of that time. Peter I was the first Russian person who personally got acquainted with the works of the famous Dutchman. According to the descriptions of eyewitnesses, Peter, when he was in Holland in the spring of 1698, invited Leeuwenhoek to his yacht and spent 2 hours looking at microscopic objects through magnifying glasses.

Peter perfectly understood the importance of the microscope and microscopic studies for the knowledge of nature, and on his initiative in 1724 in St. and optical instruments.

In 1726, the mirror master Ivan Eliseevich Belyaev was enrolled in the workshops, and “the salary was determined at 4 rubles per month, and a uniform for three years.” Ivan Belyaev was the founder of a famous family of remarkable Russian opticians who made excellent microscopes in Russia, in no way inferior to the best foreign models. These microscopes (Fig. 1) were used both by the first Russian academicians and by many Russian people who were interested in science. The first president of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Lavrenty Blumentrost, and the well-known public figure, Archbishop Feofan Prokopovich of Novgorod, also worked with Belyaev microscopes. With the same microscopes, made by the son of Ivan Eliseevich - Ivan Ivanovich Belyaev, Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov, the coryphaeus of Russian science, subsequently worked.

Rice. 1. Microscope of "solar" type for projecting microscopic objects onto the screen of the Russian master I. E. Belyaev

Russian science, created by M. V. Lomonosov (Fig. 2), also owes him the widespread introduction of the microscope as a tool for scientific research. Lomonosov was the first Russian scientist to systematically use a microscope in his scientific work. For the first time in the world, he also used a microscope for chemical research. Throughout his life, Lomonosov widely popularized information about the microscope and microscopic discoveries in Russia, devoting not only his lectures and scientific works, but even poetry to them. In his poem "Letter on the Benefits of Glass" Lomonosov wrote the following about the microscope:

Having added the growth of things, it, if we need,

Shows herbal analysis and medical knowledge.

Since the microscope has revealed many secrets to us,

Invisible particles and thin veins in the body!

Even the very term "microscope" instead of the ancient "microscopy" and "microscopy" we owe to the brilliant Russian scientist.

Rice. 2. Mikhail Vasilievich Lomonosov

Remarkable Russian master opticians of the 18th century made many improvements in the design of their contemporary microscopes, often creating new, completely original models that surpassed foreign ones in their qualities.

According to the drawings of Academician Euler, in the optical workshops of the Russian Academy of Sciences, for the first time, an experimental model of an improved “achromatic microscope” was built, the lenses of which did not give blurry images characteristic of microscopes of that time. In achromatic lenses, the so-called chromatic aberration, i.e., distortions resulting in the image of an object due to differences in the refraction of rays of different colors passing through them, was destroyed.

In the construction of this microscope, in addition to I. I. Belyaev, the famous Russian mechanical inventor Ivan Petrovich Kulibin, who was invited to St. Petersburg in 1769 to head the academic workshops, also took part (Fig. 3).

Rice. 3. Ivan Petrovich Kulibin

A wonderful self-taught mechanic, watchmaker from Nizhny Novgorod, without anyone's help and advice, independently designed in 1764-1766. telescope, microscope and electric machine, I. P. Kulibin raised the work of the optical workshop to a great height. During his more than thirty years of work in the workshops (until 1801), together with I. I. Belyaev and the senior master Vasily Vorobyov, he built many microscopes and other optical instruments that were excellent for that time.

Thus, already at that distant time, Russian people had in their hands first-class instruments for observing the microscopic world, examined microscopic objects and studied them.

True, it was difficult for scientists of that time to identify the role of microbes in human life. Microscopists of that era did not even assume that microbes are the causative agents of infectious diseases. Little could be learned about their organization, much less about their activities, when looking at drops of rotting infusions through imperfect microscopes. Even a hundred years after the discovery of microbes, the famous 18th-century scientist Carl Linnaeus could not appreciate the importance of microbes and incorrectly combined all microbes into one biological genus, which he called "chaos". He wrote that these are "Mysterious ... living molecules ... to understand which it is up to posterity."

In the meantime, still formidable epidemics continued to rage in all countries. Pestilence (as the plague was then called), smallpox, cholera claimed thousands of human lives.

Mankind suffered not only from harmful, pathogenic microbes. Throughout human history, even harmless microbes have repeatedly served as a source of popular unrest caused by ignorance and superstition, which were supported by churchmen. A completely harmless bacterium, the metabolic products of which are now used even to treat certain diseases, the so-called miraculous blood stick, played a special role in this respect in the hands of churchmen. This rod, during its development on media containing carbohydrates, releases a red pigment similar to fresh blood.

In ancient chronicles, one can find indications of the unexpected appearance of bloody spots on bread, especially on church bread - hosts stored in damp church premises. These bloodstains are the culture of the miraculous blood stick that has developed on the surface of the wet bread. The churchmen explained this as witchcraft, the evil machinations of witches. Thousands of innocent people suspected of magic were burned at the stake. So the church used popular superstitions to punish people objectionable to it.

The same superstitious horror was aroused by another harmless bacterium - the so-called luminous bacterium, which had the ability to secrete substances that slowly decompose with the release of light. Fish, meat carcasses, corpses, and even the sweat and urine of living people, on which this harmless bacterium developed, began to emit a mysterious phosphorescent light that struck fear into ignorant people.

One of the first people in the world who put forward the assumption that microbes are the causative agents of infectious diseases was a talented Russian doctor-scientist who launched his remarkable activity at the end of the 18th century, Danilo Samoylovich (1744–1805) (Fig. 4). Taking an active part in the fight against the terrible plague epidemic that hit Moscow at the end of 1770, when about a quarter of the city's population died, Samoylovich did not agree with the opinion of the majority of the then doctors about the infectivity of the plague and was convinced that it was caused by a living, microscopically small pathogen. He even tried to see it through a microscope and in his work on the microscopic study of “ulcerative poison”, which was published in St. Petersburg in 1792, he wrote: “ulcerative poison ... consists of some special and completely excellent creature, which no one knew before and which has now been investigated by me through the most accurate microscopic and other observations.

Rice. 4. Danilo Samoilovich Samoilovich

What kind of "excellent creature" it was, it is difficult for us to judge. It was not, of course, a plague microbe, which Samoilovich could not see in his imperfect microscope, which gave an increase in the range of 95-190 times. It is important for the history of science that it was the Russian doctor who was one of the first to correctly understand the role of microbes in the occurrence and transmission of infectious diseases. At that time, most Western European scientists were still very far from such progressive views. Almost a whole century passed until Danila Samoilovich's brilliant conjecture turned into a coherent doctrine of microbes as causative agents of various processes occurring in nature.

From the end of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th centuries, biological sciences began to develop, the designs of microscopes improved, various microbes were described and systematized. But scientists were still far from understanding the role of these smallest creatures in nature. It was a period of accumulation of knowledge about the structure of microbes, about the diversity of their forms, about their distribution in nature, but not about their activity. It was only in the middle of the 19th century that it became possible to understand Linnaean "chaos" and create the foundations of the doctrine of microbes. As in all other areas of knowledge, the work of Russian scientists Terekhovsky, Lovetsky, Goryainov, Tsenkovsky and many others played a prominent role here. Especially great is the importance in the development of a new science of microbes - microbiology - by the Russian scientist, L. S. Tsenkovsky (1822–1887), who gained world fame for his work (Fig. 5). He can rightly be called the father and creator of Russian scientific microbiology. Tsenkovsky was the first in Russia to widely use microscopes not only in scientific but also in teaching. With his colorful and intelligible lectures, he attracted young people to the study of this new, diverse world. Being a staunch follower of Darwinism, he was the first to apply evolutionary views to the study of microbes and correctly established the place of microbes among other animal and plant organisms.

Rice. 5. Lev Semenovich Tsenkovsky

A major contribution to the science of microbes was the work of the famous scientist Louis Pasteur (1822–1895) (Fig. 6). In his research, Pasteur was the first to point out the importance of the vital activity of microbes in the metabolism in nature. He proved that microbes - fungi, yeast and bacteria - are the causative agents of the processes of decay and fermentation in nature. In addition, they found that different microbes have different biochemical functions. It turned out that each type of fermentation - alcoholic fermentation of grape juice, lactic acid fermentation of milk, acetic fermentation of wine - is caused by a specific microbe. Pasteur also showed that microbes cannot spontaneously generate in rotting liquids, as the scientists of that time thought, but come from other microbes.

Rice. 6. Louis Pasteur

What Pasteur was able to prove in relation to the specificity of fermentative microbes was done by a number of bacteriologists in relation to microbes - causative agents of human contagious diseases. Scientists have established that each of the human contagious diseases they have studied is caused by a very specific microorganism. The German bacteriologist Robert Koch (1843-1910) proved that the causative agent of anthrax are special bacilli, which were even earlier found in the blood of animals that died from anthrax. Koch discovered and described tubercle bacillus, the causative agent of tuberculosis, a disease that many at that time did not recognize as a contagious disease. He proved that Asiatic cholera is caused by a special vibrio. Scientists have discovered pathogens and other diseases.

The great Russian scientist Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov (1845-1916) played a huge role in the development of the most difficult questions of microbiology concerning the nature of the protective forces of humans and animals, who created the doctrine of immunity - immunity to infectious diseases.

As a result of these remarkable discoveries, microbiology has become a true science of the structure and activity of the smallest living beings, of the nature of immunity to infectious microbes and methods of dealing with them.

In a short time (80–90s of the last century), many new microbes were discovered - pathogens of infectious diseases and various processes of transformation of substances in nature. It already seemed that with every contagious disease of humans, animals and plants, microorganisms visible under a microscope, the causative agents of these diseases, could be isolated. But strangely, in some infectious diseases, their causative agent could not be detected. The most thorough search for microbes that cause diseases such as smallpox, rabies, measles, influenza, did not lead to positive results for a long time. Thousands of preparations from tissues, organs and secretions of patients and the dead were reviewed under a microscope. In the strongest microscopes, with a magnification of up to 2000 times, it was impossible to see anything resembling a microbe.

It seemed, like a hundred years ago, humanity is again facing an insoluble mystery of the origin of some infectious diseases. Science is entirely indebted to Russian scientists for the disclosure of this secret.

Rice. 7. Nikolai Fedorovich Gamaleya

In 1886, a young Russian doctor, later an honorary academician of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR N.F. Gamaleya (1859–1949) (Fig. 7) studied rinderpest, a contagious disease in which it was also not possible to isolate a microbe. Gamaleya passed the blood of a sick calf through a filter, the pores of which were so small that they retained the smallest bacteria known at that time. Filtered blood, freed from bacteria, he injected into the vein of a healthy calf. The calf got the plague. Thus, Gamaleya was the first in the world to prove that the blood of a plague-stricken animal contains some kind of infectious principle, the particles of which are so small that they are invisible under a microscope and pass through the smallest pores of filters. Unfortunately, Gamaleya did not continue these studies, and the final proof of the existence in nature of the smallest microbes that are not visible in optical microscopes and passing through filters was made six years later (in 1892) by another Russian botanist D. I. Ivanovsky ( 1864–1920) (Fig. 8).

Rice. 8. Dmitry Iosifovich Ivanovsky

The discovery of D. I. Ivanovsky was made under the following circumstances. In those years, tobacco plantations in the Crimea suffered greatly from the so-called tobacco mosaic disease. Having studied this disease on the spot and not finding visible pathogens under a microscope, Ivanovsky squeezed the juice of a diseased plant, passed it through a filter and infected another healthy plant with filtered juice. Mosaic spots characteristic of the disease soon appeared on the tobacco leaves (Fig. 9). Assuming at first that, together with the juice, not a living pathogen, but only its poison, got into a healthy plant, Ivanovsky filtered the juice of this diseased plant and infected the third with it, from the third - the fourth, etc. Ivanovsky expected that with the successive transfer of the juice, dilution would occur poison and in the end the juice will be non-infectious. In fact, it turned out to be the opposite, with each dilution, the disease-causing properties of the juice did not weaken, but intensified. In the last plant, the juice was more contagious than in the first. From this experience, Ivanovsky drew an absolutely correct conclusion: in a diseased plant, a strong reproduction of an invisible tiny microbe occurs.

Rice. 9. Tobacco leaves infected with tobacco mosaic virus

Thus, the smallest microbes that are not visible in an optical microscope were discovered, which do not grow on artificial nutrient media and pass through such filter pores that do not let even the smallest bacteria pass.

These tiny microbes have been called filterable viruses, or simply viruses.

The Russian botanist D. I. Ivanovsky was the founder of a new branch of the science of microbes - the so-called virology. Five years after the discovery of Ivanovsky, scientists described the first filterable virus that causes a contagious animal disease - foot and mouth disease. Scientists all over the world have now taken up the study of viruses, and in a relatively short period of time, dozens of different viruses have been found - the causative agents of infectious diseases in humans, animals, plants, and even bacteria. Later it was found that this group of microbes includes the causative agents of smallpox, rabies, encephalitis, influenza, measles, yellow fever, and a number of other human diseases. Most infectious plant diseases are also caused by viruses. A bacteriophage, an invisible microbe that dissolves bacteria, also has the properties of a virus.

The discovery of a new group of microbes - filterable viruses - was of great practical and scientific importance. Although viruses seemed invisible to researchers until almost 1940 - before the widespread use of the so-called electron microscope, which gave a magnification of tens of thousands of times - their properties were well studied. Scientists have proven that viruses have a protein composition. It has been proven that they multiply, change under the influence of changes in living conditions and transmit their properties by inheritance. The most accurate measurements of the size of viruses have shown that some of them are so small that their size does not exceed the size of protein molecules. Thus, it was proved that viruses, having all the properties of life, do not have a cellular structure, like other microbes and protozoa. The most elementary form of the existence of living matter turned out to be not a cell, but lumps of living protein.

With the discovery of viruses, our understanding of life has greatly expanded. From the encephalitis virus - a tiny particle, a hundred-thousandths of a millimeter in diameter, to a thirty-meter whale - all these are different forms of life on our earth.

Helped us:

Elena Kardonova
Infectious Diseases Doctor of the Clinical and Diagnostic Center "MEDSI" on "Belorusskaya"

Nona Hovsepyan
Doctor-consultant of the Independent laboratory "INVITRO"

Thus, if more than five people work in your office, one of them, according to statistics, can theoretically infect you with a simple handshake. Or things dear to the heart: Stanford University studies have shown that there are 18 times more various pathogens on the screen of a smartphone than on the toilet flush button, and in a public toilet.

Don't panic

But it makes no sense to throw up your hands above your head and run out of the room screaming - under normal conditions, your body can easily cope with all of the above misfortunes due to the protective barrier of immunity. An absolutely healthy person in everyday life can be limited to elementary hygiene tips - wash hands with soap, do wet cleaning indoors at least once a week and wipe items such as a keyboard, mouse and mobile phone when they show noticeable traces of contamination. It is the spot that is caught by the naked eye that is a signal of real danger. It is unlikely that what you do not see contains a concentration of harmful microorganisms that can overcome a healthy immune system. But a drop of jam on the table is an excellent incubator for the mass reproduction of bacteria.

Moreover, you, of course, are aware that for a healthy person, excessive hygiene can even be harmful - immunity, free from the need for constant struggle with microbes, begins to weaken. True, any immunity has its Achilles' heels - mucous membranes (mouth, nose, genitals, plus the inner surfaces of the eyelids and auditory canals) and damaged skin. Therefore, even the smallest scratches should be covered with a bactericidal patch or at least kept away from possible sources of infection. And for all mucous membranes, the rule is simple: do not stick in them what you are not sure of the purity of, whether it be food or your own finger.

Sources of danger

And now let's talk a little more specifically. Everyone knows that door handles and banknotes are teeming with harmful microbes. So let's shift the focus - to no less dangerous, but poorly publicized sources of infection.

Headphones

Especially "inserts" or "plugs". Taking them with not very clean hands or throwing them into the general compartment of the bag (along with change from the store and a used paper handkerchief) is a common thing. But since you are now aware of the sensitive internal surfaces of the ear canals, periodically wipe the headphones with an antiseptic composition, store in a separate pocket in a solitary confinement and take only the base with your hands.

Contact lenses

They again interact with the delicate mucous membrane. About the rules of hygiene when using these things, it is said in the instructions for use - and the charter must be observed from and to, and not as the majority does - selectively. Also, be careful if you are unwell or in constant contact with someone who is sick. A common cold can easily spread from unwashed hands or a handkerchief to lenses - and cause inflammation, much more disgusting than the usual runny nose.

New clothes

Yes, it needs to be washed first. And this applies not only to underwear, but also to any other things that directly interact with the naked body - T-shirts, jeans, skirts and so on. Moreover, in order to ensure that all germs are killed, it is necessary to wash at 60 ° C and above or iron the clothes after. The same rules apply to bed linen. If you have purchased the most delicate bustier, which is contraindicated in both the first and second, you can wash it by hand using antibacterial soap.

Even the hospital is not that clean! Terrible mutants live there - bacteria and viruses resistant to antibiotics.

Gadgets

Laptops, mice, tablets and other personal electronics. The most dangerous device is a smartphone. You use it both on the street and in public transport, you let your friends see the latest “selfies” - and then “pick up the phone”, that is, bring the phone to your face. Of course, he rarely rewards anyone with serious diseases, but he can easily organize elementary acne. Remember the main rule - wipe gadgets with an antiseptic composition when visible contamination appears (greasy stains, for example), and a smartphone - at least once a week and just like that, for prevention. You can also use special products for displays, but from the point of view of hygiene, they are no better than antiseptic gel or banal alcohol. Well, you should not take food with your fingers, which previously knocked on the keyboard.

Decorations

On rings, bracelets and watches, all the same dirt settles as on the hands - that's the pain. And if it is enough to wash a monolithic engagement ring or other object of a simple form with soap and warm water, then products of complex design, with a large number of bends and patterns, should be thoroughly cleaned at least once a month - with a toothbrush and dishwashing detergent. And before inserting earrings into your ears, it would be useful to wipe with alcohol that part of the jewelry that is in direct contact with the body. If you wear the same earrings without taking off, once every two weeks it is worth treating them with an antiseptic composition.

bath screen

Always wet and always folded - in general, an ideal place for the development of mold and other fungi. It must be washed at least once a month, at a temperature of at least 60 ° C, and it is better to give out all 80-90 ° C, just to be sure. When buying a new one, you should give preference to models made of plastic, which at least do not accumulate moisture inside the material. And make it a habit after every trip to the shower for some time to leave the curtain in a curtained position so that all drops of water have time to drain down, and not stagnate in frills and frills.

Puzik Elizaveta Alekseevna

Project Manager:

Usenko Olga Anatolievna

Institution:

MAOU "Primary school No. 7" in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk

This research work on the surrounding world "The world of the invisible" around us" is a fascinating study in the field of microbiology. The author empirically answers the questions: "Is there an "invisible" world of microorganisms?", "Which are more "positive" or "negative"?

IN environmental research work on microorganisms it has been established that bacteria can bring not only harm, but also benefit. Experiments on the cultivation of various bacteria are described.

The research results from my environmental project on microorganisms (bacteria) can be used by the teacher in the environmental lessons as a reference.

Introduction
1. Collection and analysis of information
1.1. Discovery history
1.2. Classification of microorganisms
1.3. The role of microorganisms in nature and for humans
2. Amazing abilities of microorganisms
2.1. Questioning classmates
2.2. Experimental studies
Conclusion
Bibliographic list
Applications

Introduction

"Invisible, they constantly accompany
man, invading his life
sometimes like friends, sometimes like enemies

Academician V.L. Omelyansky

Last academic year, I developed and defended a research project " The whole truth about milk". While working on it, I proved by experience that milk is a tasty and healthy product, and many delicious fermented milk products can be prepared from it.

I was interested in why, when stored under certain conditions, dairy products spoil or turn into tasty products. Who spoils them, and who makes them?

Thus was born the theme of my research work (project) on the surrounding world "The world is "invisible" around us".

Probably everyone in childhood asked a naive question: Why does mom always say that “you need to wash your hands with soap after the street, be sure to wash fruits and vegetables before eating, do not bite your nails, some bacteria and microbes will get into the body, because of which you can get sick?”.

I decided to find out on my own who are these microorganisms where they are, if I don’t see them at all, and are they so harmful. Maybe my mother came up with all this to accustom me to order?

The relevance of the work due to the fact that the world of microorganisms is very diverse, and is an integral part of our life, however, you need to know that you can be friends with some microorganisms, and you need to fight with others. If you look closely, you can be convinced of the existence of the world of "invisibles", but most schoolchildren do not attach importance to this, as a result of which they make many mistakes.

Importance of research It consists in realizing the need for microorganisms in nature and for humans, as well as observing the rules of hygiene in order to maintain one's health.

For this, the method of a research project is best suited, which is based on a certain problem: many schoolchildren do not think about the existing parallel invisible world of microorganisms, do not know about their benefits and harms, and therefore do not follow the rules of personal hygiene.

Object of study are microorganisms.

Subject of study the importance of microorganisms for the environment.

Hypothesis: For example, microorganisms can bring not only harm, but also benefit.

Was delivered purpose of the study: to study the diversity of microorganisms, their role in the environment and their influence on biological processes (to confirm or refute the hypothesis).

In order to achieve the above goal, there must be following tasks :

1. Study the literature, analyze, and summarize the information received.
2. Expand your horizons about the mysterious world of microorganisms.
3. Chat with experts in the field of study.
4. Conduct a classmate survey.
5. Conduct experiments to identify microorganisms.
6. Form the right attitude towards personal hygiene.
7. Create a presentation on the topic of the project.

The following were used in the work. research methods:

1. Search work (think for yourself, study the literature).
2. Questionnaire (ask others).
3. Experimental study and observation.
4. Analysis of the received information.

Practical significance The work consists in the fact that the results of the study can be used as reference material in conducting lessons on the world around, as well as interesting, educational material in extracurricular activities.

The data sources were: textbooks, educational and methodical, fiction, reference literature, popular science programs and conversations with experts in the field under study.

• I will find out who these microorganisms are, where they are, if they are not visible;
• I will prove that microorganisms can bring not only harm, but also benefit;
• I will follow the rules of hygiene;
• I can share the results of my work with my classmates.

By observing personal hygiene, a person thus takes care of his health. The word "hygiene" comes from the ancient Greek "healthy" - this is a science that studies the influence of the environment on the health of the human body, optimizing favorable and preventing adverse effects. These effects are different: biological, chemical, physical, social, etc. Let us consider in this article the influence of biological factors, such as microorganisms (viruses and bacteria), on the human condition and how to deal with it - that is, the personal hygiene of each person.

It's no secret that the world around us is literally teeming with invisible microorganisms. Some of them are beneficial to humans, and some are deadly. Who are these inhabitants of the microworld?

As it was before

plague epidemic in Europe. 14th century

Before the advent of hygiene, thanks to the accumulated experience of the life of the people, traditional medicine arose. She helped fight some diseases and had only primitive rules for protecting health. In ancient times, people already understood that it is easier to prevent the onset of a disease than to cure it. Gradually practiced daily disease prevention. Often, the rules of prevention penetrated the cultural or religious laws of the people. In ancient India, for example, a code of laws of Manu took shape, which contained hygiene rules. In ancient Egypt, Rome, water pipes and sewerage were built. In ancient Greece, Hippocrates tried to find a relationship between human health and environmental factors, human behavior. But this was primitive knowledge that did not protect peoples from epidemics of infectious diseases. The development of hygiene came to a halt in the Middle Ages, which caused devastating epidemics of plague, typhoid, cholera and other terrible diseases. The impetus for the development of hygiene was the technical development of society, when production and manufactories began to appear. The first rules of personal hygiene for artisans appear. In parallel with the development of science, hygiene also developed. Now, thanks to hygiene and vaccination, we have forgotten many deadly diseases.

Of course, personal hygiene will not save you from epidemics, many infectious diseases, but it will protect you from a huge number of "household" viruses and bacteria. The rules of personal hygiene are quite simple and using them in your daily life will help you maintain a good sanitary condition of the body. First of all, it should be noted that personal hygiene items (comb, toothbrush, towel, etc.) must remain personal.

Skin hygiene. The skin is the body's defense mechanism, it is the first to encounter viruses and bacteria. Therefore, the skin must be kept clean. Thus, we constantly wash away pathogenic bacteria from ourselves and do not create conditions for their reproduction. It is advisable to bathe once a day, in warm water, which is several degrees higher than body temperature. You can wash yourself with cold water, because. it reduces perspiration. It is necessary to wash your hands periodically, as they are in contact with infectious objects all the time. You should take care of the nails and cut them in a timely manner, a very large number of bacteria accumulate under the nails. You should not go to bed in the same clothes in which you went during the day - pajamas are needed for this purpose.

Oral hygiene. It is necessary to brush your teeth every day, in the morning and in the evening, it is advisable to rinse your mouth after eating. This will prevent not only damage to teeth that are not restored, but also other diseases.

Towel. Wash your face towel every day, hand towels every three days. Towels need to be changed every 2-3 years, because the fabric wears out and the towel dries longer, and germs are much more likely to multiply on a wet towel. A wet towel should not be left crumpled, it must be dried for the same reason.

washcloth. The washcloth should be changed every 6 months, the bathing sponge - every month. Wash the washcloth with soap before and after use. Sometimes it is useful to boil the washcloth to remove bacteria.

Pillow. The pillow cannot be used for more than 5 years. In pillows, regardless of the filler, house dust accumulates, which attracts dust mites, bedbugs and other harmful organisms. Pillowcases need to be changed frequently.

Toothbrush. It is categorically unacceptable to use someone else's toothbrush. The service life of a toothbrush is about 3 months, after this period the brush begins to wear out and pathogenic bacteria accumulate in it. Don't use a brush that makes you uncomfortable.

Slippers. After 6 months of wearing slippers, they should be thrown away, because from sweating the feet they are either moistened or dried out, which is favorable for the appearance of fungus. Even if you clean slippers, you should not use them for more than a year.

When personal hygiene won't help

In some cases, personal hygiene and the prevention of infectious diseases are powerless, for example, if there was an infectious patient in the apartment. In this case, it is necessary to call specialists who will conduct disinfection of the apartment special tools that are used in hospitals. Our company performs disinfection after the dead, tuberculosis and other patients and other types of disinfection.

In contact with

Every day a person comes into contact with billions of creatures invisible to the eye: viruses and bacteria. Some of them are useful or harmless, but most cause the development of dangerous diseases: intestinal disorders, infectious inflammations, colds.

Microorganisms are activated with the onset of the warm season: humid air and high air temperature create favorable conditions for their rapid reproduction. Therefore, in the summer, cases of respiratory diseases and infections of the gastrointestinal tract, dysbacteriosis become more frequent.

An additional risk factor is non-compliance with basic hygiene rules. In the office and at home, we often do not think about the fact that we are surrounded by microbes that, entering the body with food and drink, can provoke illness.

The main dangers of the office

A well-known microbiologist and professor at the University of Arizona, Charles Gerb, conducted an interesting study during which he examined typical American and European offices for the presence of pathogenic bacteria. Prior to the experiment, public toilets were thought to be the most polluted places. But most microorganisms were found on:

• computer keyboards;
• handsets;
• wash basins and faucets.

The number of pathogens on objects increased sharply if the equipment was used not by one person, but by two or more. If the average number of bacteria per square inch in an office was about 20,000, then on keyboards this number exceeded 26,000. Moreover, the researchers considered precisely dangerous pathogens, and not harmless saprophytes.

It has been found that 400 times more microorganisms live on smartphones than under the rim of a toilet bowl. Large colonies of microorganisms that can cause conjunctivitis, tonsillitis, dermatitis were found on sinks and taps: in places of constant accumulation of tap water.

According to the expert opinion of Charles Gerb, the most "dirty" jobs are for cashiers and bank tellers, as well as for school and university teachers and doctors.

Infection hazards in public places

Most often, infection with intestinal infections occurs through household contact through common dishes, household items, or simply by shaking hands with a person who has neglected the rules of hygiene. Most pathogenic bacteria can be found:

• in public toilets, but not on toilet bowls or washstands, but on door handles. Slightly fewer microorganisms accumulate on the faucet valves and the flush button;
• on the handles of public telephones;
• on the rails of public transport.

The study helped dispel some popular myths: it turned out that a relatively small amount of bacteria and viruses live on elevator buttons and store handles, and their concentration does not exceed the norm. Much more microorganisms accumulate on horizontal damp surfaces: for example, under a dripping air conditioner.

"Golden" rules of hygiene

Hygiene habits are formed in childhood. But parents hold opposite opinions about the conditions in which a child should be kept. Someone preaches the theory of “useful dirt” and does not want to put children in a “greenhouse”. This approach is half justified: constant contact with microorganisms really accelerates the formation of healthy immunity. But neglect of cleanliness leads to regular poisoning.

The second extreme is painful cleanliness. Regular use of antibacterial cleaners disrupts the natural microflora, which consists of microorganisms beneficial to humans. As a result, the immune system is not formed, and a person, torn from "sterile" conditions, quickly falls ill.

The "golden mean" is the observance of simple rules of personal hygiene: mandatory hand washing after using the toilet, upon arrival from the street, before eating and preparing food. This is enough to wash away viruses and bacteria from the surface of the skin and reduce the risk of contracting a cold or intestinal upset.

What microbes live nearby?

In apartments and offices, infectious disease specialists found the highest concentration of the following microorganisms:

• E. coli: pathogenic strains cause gastrointestinal disorders, colpitis, peritonitis, disrupt normal development in infancy.
• Klebsiella pneumonia: provokes diseases of the respiratory tract and the genitourinary system.
• Salmonella: the main causative agent of typhoid fever, salmonellosis.
• Streptococci: a vast genus of bacteria that can live in almost any human organ and tissue, disrupting their work and leading to acute inflammation.
• Staphylococcus aureus: Causes systemic infections up to general blood poisoning (sepsis).

Viruses also live in the environment. The most dangerous and common are rotovirus, which provokes a disease called "stomach flu" and is characterized by fever, nausea, and gastrointestinal upset. Also, hepatitis A and E viruses that affect the liver remain viable in the external environment for a long time.

To reduce contact with pathogens and protect yourself and your family, hygienists recommend changing the approach to washing. For example, sort clothes not only by color and fabric, but also take into account which pathogenic bacteria and in what quantity can live on them:

• do not wash underwear and bed linen together with the dining room (tablecloths, towels, napkins);
• do not put used handkerchiefs in the clothes basket (or choose not textile, but disposable paper handkerchiefs);
• after the illness of one of the family members - the things of an already recovered person should be washed separately from the rest at a high temperature (not lower than 60 ° C). After washing, iron things with an iron.

One of the most effective ways to protect yourself from harmful microorganisms and bacteria is the use of special isoseptics. For express disinfection of all surfaces, Nika-Isoseptic is suitable. It comes in two packaging options:

• 0.75l - suitable for cleaning at the workplace or in the apartment;
• 0.1l is a convenient format for carrying and disinfecting handles, washbasins in public places, as well as handrails in transport.

The disinfectant quickly destroys microbes and viruses and is completely safe for humans; upon contact with the skin, it does not dry it out and does not cause irritation.