Do you need to change your toothbrush after a cold?

I've been suffering thru a bout of the flu this last week, and I have to admit one of the things on my mind is whether or not I need to change my toothbrush when I get better. After all, isn't that the likeliest source of reinfection? An article on slate suggests, that may not be the case.

Once you've been infected with a particular strain of a virus, you develop antibodies that make the likelihood of re-infection very low. Even if the virus were still hanging out on your toothbrush after you recovered—colds and flus can survive there in an infective state for anywhere from a few hours to three days—those antibodies should keep you from contracting the same illness twice. Your toothbrush is no more dangerous while you're still sick, since the viral load on the bristles is negligible compared with what's already in your system.

I must admit while this makes sense to me, I am still likely to change the brush sooner than later. The idea of brushing with an infected brush is unpleasant, at best.

The latest "plague" is caused by a fungus

Those paranoid about health focus on the the potential for "germs" - i.e. viruses and bacteria - to cause illness. But we generally don't think that the humble fungus can also infect humans and threaten life and limb. A new fungal disease has appeared in Canada and is spreading into the northwestern United States, and it has a 25% mortality rate among those infected!

People can become infected with Cryptococcus gattii by inhaling the microscopic organisms—and there's not much you can do about it.

There's no vaccination or other preventative measure available for the new strain, though the infection can be treated with antibiotics, the study says. And "there are no particular precautions that can be taken to avoid Cryptococcosis," according to the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control. "You can, however, be alert for long lasting or severe symptoms and consult a physician (or veterinarian for animals) for early diagnosis and treatment."

Appearing several months after exposure to the fungus, the infection causes a bad cough and shortness of breath, among other symptoms.

HIV does not need a break to enter the body

For years, conservatives has been ridiculed for claiming the only sure way to prevent AIDS was to abstain from sex outside of marriage or at least outside of a committed relationship with a tested, monogamous partner. We have been told over and over that there are plenty of effective alternative methods to prevent HIV transmission. But again, we are learning HIV is wily and extremely flexible in its infection strategy.

Instead of infiltrating breaks in the skin, HIV appears to attack normal, healthy genital tissue, U.S. researchers said on Tuesday in a study that offers new insight into how the AIDS virus spreads.

They said researchers had assumed the human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, sought out beaks in the skin, such as a herpes sore, in order to gain access to immune system cells deeper in the tissue...

He said until now, scientists had little understanding of the details of how HIV is transmitted sexually in women.

But fear not. I am sure the leaders in our public schools will never allow abstinence to be taught.