WEBVTT - Farts Can Be Silent, But Can They Be Deadly?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff production of iHeart Radio. Hey brain stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>Lauren Vogelbaum. Here, Look, no one really wants to think

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<v Speaker 1>about it, and yet you can't help but think about

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<v Speaker 1>it when you smell or emit a particularly odiferous fart.

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<v Speaker 1>Can that fart spread disease? We found two studies done

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<v Speaker 1>decades apart that come to two different conclusions. In August

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<v Speaker 1>of ninety eight, an outbreak of infections of a particular

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<v Speaker 1>strain of streptococcie occurred at Vanderbilt University Hospital in Nashville, Tennessee.

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<v Speaker 1>The nine patients infected were housed in different wards with

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<v Speaker 1>different problems, and they were visited by many medical staff

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<v Speaker 1>during their stays, but seven of them shared an anesthesiologist.

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<v Speaker 1>The stuff took oral swabs of the anesthesiologists skin and throat,

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<v Speaker 1>but they came back negative no trace of the streptococcie.

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<v Speaker 1>Since this was the mid twentieth century when penicillin was

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<v Speaker 1>handed out like candy, the anesthesiologist was given a short

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<v Speaker 1>course of an hbiotic because why not. But a few

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<v Speaker 1>months later, in November and December, another outbreak of the

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<v Speaker 1>same strain of strep infected eight different patients the same

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<v Speaker 1>anesthesiologist attended five of these new cases. He still wasn't

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<v Speaker 1>showing any symptoms, but this time the staff took an

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<v Speaker 1>anal swab of the doctor and that turned up the

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<v Speaker 1>exact strain of strip affecting these new patients. The doctor

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<v Speaker 1>was given a full round of antibiotics and taken off

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<v Speaker 1>duty for ten days. Afterwards, his cultures were clear of

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<v Speaker 1>streptococci and there were no further wound infections related to

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<v Speaker 1>his patients. Researchers said at the time in the New

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<v Speaker 1>England Journal of Medicine that while the quote anus to

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<v Speaker 1>hand to patient route of transmission was a possibility, airborne

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<v Speaker 1>transmission was more likely in this case. The authors of

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<v Speaker 1>the paper concluded then that it was probably the doctor's

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<v Speaker 1>farts infecting the patient's wounds, not him failing to wash

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<v Speaker 1>his hands properly. Fast forward to two thousand one, a

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<v Speaker 1>woman called into doctor Carl carsel Nikki's radio show in

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<v Speaker 1>Australia asking if she was contaminating the operating room when

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<v Speaker 1>she quietly farted during procedures. Doctor Carl thought that was

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<v Speaker 1>a fair question, so he enlisted a microbiologist friend, Luke Tenant,

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<v Speaker 1>to help find out Tenant asked a colleague to fart

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<v Speaker 1>into two petree dishes, one with his pants on and

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<v Speaker 1>one with his pants down. Never forget, science is very elegant.

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<v Speaker 1>Tenant checked the dishes the next morning. The no pants

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<v Speaker 1>dish had lumps of bacteria similar to those found on

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<v Speaker 1>our skin and in our gut. The pants dish had

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<v Speaker 1>no bacteria. Doctor Carl noted that the bacteria and the

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<v Speaker 1>no pants dish wasn't harmful though, just the normal everyday

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<v Speaker 1>microbes that live within and around us, and can even

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<v Speaker 1>be helpful. They're part of the microbiome that helps us

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<v Speaker 1>digest our food. Well, okay, but what about pink eye.

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<v Speaker 1>You may have heard as a kid that you can

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<v Speaker 1>get pink eye if somebody farts on your pillow. First

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<v Speaker 1>of all, if someone farts on your pillow, they are

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<v Speaker 1>not your friend and you shouldn't let them anywhere near

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<v Speaker 1>your pillows. Second, though, the myth just isn't true. It's

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<v Speaker 1>called passing gas. Because it's gas, any bacteria in the

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<v Speaker 1>fart would die pretty quickly outside the body. You can, however,

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<v Speaker 1>get pink eye from actual poop. If you touch poop

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<v Speaker 1>and then touch your eye, you can get pink eye.

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<v Speaker 1>As with a bacterial infection, any viruses that might be

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<v Speaker 1>present in your intestines aren't likely to spread through farts.

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<v Speaker 1>This is even true of coronaviruses like the one that

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<v Speaker 1>leads to COVID nineteen. Viruses fall out of the air

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<v Speaker 1>pretty quickly, meaning these surfaces they land on are more

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<v Speaker 1>contagious than any smell wafting past your unfortunate nose, more

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<v Speaker 1>than anything to do with farts. Good hand washing techniques

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<v Speaker 1>will make the most difference for keeping bacteria and viruses

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<v Speaker 1>outside your body. Washing your hands for twenty seconds each

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<v Speaker 1>time you use the bathroom or touch shared surfaces like

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<v Speaker 1>the handle of the office refrigerator, for instance, vastly reduces

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<v Speaker 1>the likelihood that you'll contract any illnesses or infections. So

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<v Speaker 1>what have we learned here today? Wear pants and wash

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<v Speaker 1>your hands words to live by. Today's episode was written

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<v Speaker 1>by Kristen hall Geisler and produced by Tyler Clang. From

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<v Speaker 1>more on this lots of other curious topics, visit how

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<v Speaker 1>stuff works dot com. Brain Stuff is production of I

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