Skip to main content

Wondering if FARTS (Mess) carry Bacteria?

"It all started with an enquiry from a nurse," Dr Karl Kruszelnicki told listeners to his science phone-in show on the Triple J radio station in Brisbane. "She wanted to know whether she was contaminating the operating theatre she worked in by quietly farting in the sterile environment during operations, and I realised that I didn't know. But I was determined to find out."

Dr Kruszelnicki then described the method by which he had established whether human flatus
(fart) just merely gives unpleasant smell or actually contains microbes. "I
contacted Luke Tennent, a microbiologist in Canberra, and together we devised an experiment.

He asked a colleague to break wind (fart) directly onto two Petri dishes from a distance of 5 centimetres, first fully clothed, then with his trousers down.
Then he observed what happened. Overnight, the second Petri dish which was done with the trousers down, sprouted visible lumps of two types of bacteria that are usually found only in the
gut and on the skin. But the flatus which had passed through clothing caused no bacteria to
sprout, which suggests that clothing acts as a filter.

Our deduction is that the enteric zone in the second Petri dish was caused by the flatus itself, and the splatter ring around that was caused by the sheer velocity of the fart, which blew skin bacteria from the cheeks and blasted it onto the dish.

It seems, therefore, that flatus can cause infection if the emitter is naked, but not if he or she is clothed. But the results of the experiment should
not be considered alarming, because neither type of bacterium is harmful. In fact, they're similar to the 'friendly' bacteria found in yoghurt.

Our final conclusion? Don't fart naked near food. All right, it's not rocket science. But then again, maybe
it is?

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Enjoy the use of Condom this Valentine. Thailand tells citizens

Valentine is fast approaching and the Government of Thailand have decided to launch a campaign to  help its citizens that are too shy to buy condoms. They will therefore distribute condoms in large quantities to the citizens in a campaign tagged "Condoms for Confidence". According to Thongchai Lertwilairattanapong of the Ministry of Public Health, ‎" ‎This valentine, there is a high  tendency of people, most especially youths getting involved in unprotected sex". "Teenagers, especially, do not have to be embarrassed about buying condoms. The ‎s ociety also have to accept that teenage girls buy condoms, which is better than more teenage girls getting pregnant.  We have to persuade Thais to accept condoms as a hygiene item in everyday life to protect against pregnancy and AIDS".

Robbers Rape Nurse in Lagos Hospital

The hospital | credits: Samson Folarin Some robbers have raided a Lagos hospital on Santa Maria Street, in the Egan, Igando area of Lagos State. It was learnt that after carting away valuables of patients, they also raped an 18-year-old auxiliary nurse in the hospital. The incident happened around 4am on Thursday. PUNCH Metro  was told that it was the third time the robbers would attack the hospital in a year. It was learnt that the robbers stormed the hospital around 3am, scaling the fence before gaining  entrance. They overpowered a 19-year-old security guard from Niger Republic, tied him with rope and locked him in a room before carrying out their operation. The staff on night duty were brutally attacked and wounded and when the robbers could not get enough money, they resorted to raping the teenage nurse in turns. A source said: "The girl was actually the one who went to the police station to report. She accused the management of the hospital of dereliction of duty and sai...

South Korea becomes first East Asian Country to Legalize Medical Marijuana

South Korea has become the first east Asian country to legalise medical cannabis in a surprising move to expand the treatment options for patients with epilepsy and other rare diseases in the conservative country. The country’s national assembly approved amending the Act on the Management of Narcotic Drugs on Friday to allow non-hallucinogenic doses of medical marijuana. Still, using weed even for medical purpose will be strictly controlled with patients required to apply to the Korea Orphan Drug Centre, a government body facilitating patient access to rare medicines, after receiving a doctor’s prescription. Approval will be granted on a case-by-case basis, according to the country’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. South Korea has some of the toughest rules on cannabis consumption with citizens prosecuted for using weed in other countries where recreational marijuana is legalised. Under the country’s anti-drug laws, smoking and trading marijuana remains illegal with th...