Dirty Purse

In the monthly newsletter from Backus Hospital, a medical facility about thirty minutes from my home, I recently found an article about how my purse could make me sick. Frankly, I never thought of my purse as a filthy, germ-laden harbinger of disease, but this article definitely set me straight. Listen to this:

When tested for bacteria, purses can be a culprit for hosting salmonella and E. coli, which can cause food poisoning and gastrointestinal problems, and pseudomonas, which cause eye infections.

Think about where you put your purse. If you have ever put it down on the floor of a public bathroom, or even on a restaurant floor, it can pick up germs and even fecal matter.

Fecal matter? Yuck! While I usually don’t put my purse on the bathroom floor (I use the little hook on the back of the stall door), I have been known to put it on the floor of a restaurant.

Robin Heard, nurse epidemiologist at Backus Hospital, said women often put their purses on the floor of their cars. Then if a purse is put on the counter or kitchen table when you get home, it can transfer bacteria.

I must admit, I really didn’t think about this a whole lot, but I can see how, if my purse makes contact with any space that comes in contact with my shoes, fecal matter and related bacteria could go anywhere. After all, I may have walked across a lawn that was used by small rodents, feral cats, who knows…

The article continues to explain how cloth purses harbor more bacteria than leather or vinyl purses, and recommends using anti-bacterial wipes to periodically clean your purse. You can bet I will be stocking my car with a box of those babies today! Maybe if I had done that a month ago, I wouldn’t have gotten sick with the flu.

I learn something new every day.