In our day-to-day lives, most people are concerned with dodging the perils they can easily see. That’s why we look both ways when crossing the street. It’s also why we look where we step to avoid tripping or falling. We don’t run toward aggressive dogs, or even bees or wasps — we avoid them.

But some things that are a threat to our health and well-being are just too small to see and more difficult to avoid. That’s how germs get us, by being impossible to notice and easy to forget.

Still, every handshake, touch of a surface, and even every breath we take carries risks of spreading germs with it. And even though it sounds scary, knowing how germs spread and what companies like Silva Building Specialists can do to help prevent the spread in a commercial or office environment is a great way to work through the fear.

What Are Germs and How Do They Spread?

We use the term “germs” to describe every small entity that can cause illness. People commonly list viruses and bacteria as germs, but they’re not the only things that fit the description. Fungi can be tiny and disease-inducing, as can protozoa.

To be able to spread and cause infection in people, germs need to have certain conditions. They need a reservoir, a place where the germ can live and multiply. People can be reservoirs for some germs, as can animals. Water and soil can also be a reservoir for germs.

To get from the reservoir onto a victim, germs need a pathway — a way to spread. The four common pathways for germs to spread include touch, inhalation, via droplets, and through cuts and abrasions. Of course, infection cannot happen if there’s no one to infect, and even then, an infection might not occur if the natural or adopted defenses of the infected person hold off an attack.

In case a person becomes infected by the germ, they can become a reservoir for it and start the cycle all over again. That’s how germs survive, but it’s also the way they can be targeted and stopped.

How to Deal with Germs

The good news is that because germs need those conditions to maintain the cycle that lets them spread, it’s possible to deal with them at any of the points in the cycle. When we boil water, we destroy or inactivate any germs that might be in there, and the water stops acting as a reservoir.

Companies like Silva Building Specialists, which offers office cleaning services in the greater Houston area, act on removing the pathways by disinfecting surfaces that could serve as points of transmission of the germs.

“We cleaned probably 10 million square feet in the greater Houston area,” says Tommy Silva, the company’s President. “We clean high-rise buildings, hospitals, libraries, museums, sporting events, stadiums, and doctors’ offices, small or large.”

People’s habits and decisions can also play a significant role in dealing with germs. Washing hands is essential, as is wearing protective equipment when it’s necessary. What is important is to recognize what the risks are and handle them effectively so that the cycle is broken. In a commercial setting, this means calling a certified professional crew, such as Silva Building Specialists, to mitigate the spread of germs.

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