Do storms bring in......

[jusforsean]

Germs?? If this is in the woring place feel free to move , sorry. But a nurse told my husband that when these storms, waves move in from other places, the bring germs and stuff from those places and people seem to all get a "cold" after a storm ect... Is there any validity to this theoery at all or any scientific studies on it??? I know a crazy question:)

[Evil Jeremy]

it really sounds stupid to me. how can Hurricanes and Germs be related? then again, new germs can form after the Hurricane moves by.

[Stormavoider]

I vaguely remember seeing some documentary that discussed this. They talked about allot more than just germs. If I remember correctly they also claimed much of the sands on our east coast beaches originated in the Sahara.

[Cookiely]

Maybe he's talking about the mold left in homes that are hurricane damaged. Sinus infections from SAL.

[Recurve]

Well, weather is movement of air masses, and air masses carry everything that exits in air -- particulates, dissolved gasses, spores, ash, dust, birds, bacteria, water vapor, pollen, and so on.
But the other fact is that the bacteria/viruses/spores that cause disease are all around all the time anyway; it's not like the air is clean and then a storm blows in a mass of dirty air. Still, I wouldn't discount the idea completely. If for some reason there was a concentration of bacteria in the air in a certain place, I don't see why it couldn't be moved with the weather to another place. I'd rather be upwind of a germ-warfare lab that developed a leak rather than downwind, for example.

[AnnularCane]

So hurricanes are contagious?

[Extremeweatherguy]

I do tend to get sick after storms, but I think that is due to:

-lack of power.
-lack of safe drinking water.
-heat (also due to lack of power).
-not getting enough sleep.
-going outside to watch the beginnings of the storm and becoming soaked with cold, sideways rain.

All these factors tend to make me mentally and physically sick.

[HurricaneHunter914]

I heard hurricanes help clean the air of pollution. I think California needs a hurricane to clean the high pollution levels there right now.

[wxmann_91]

Germs will die long before they can make it to the U.S. On the other hand, sand, ash, and other particulates can be blown for thousands of miles before landing in a different continent. The ash from Mt. Pinatubo eruption in 1991 (which occurred during a typhoon), and Tambora back in 1815, were blown all across the globe, cooling the global temperatures by several degrees.

[Wpwxguy]

Since Katrina there has been a number of people (older folks) that I know who have gotten lung infections. They were told by their doctors that it could be related to the storm. The storm made conditions ripe for bacteria growth. Large amounts of standing water, debris, rotting material. Some of these pathogens/organisms can become airborn and thus make you sick. Mold and mildew probably being the number one culprit. As far as a storm bringing in germs from other places, it is not likely. There has to be some sort of medium for the germs to attach to, in the air they would just be blown away and dispersed. It is an interesting question though. Worth researching!

[Aric Dunn]

Germs?? If this is in the woring place feel free to move , sorry. But a nurse told my husband that when these storms, waves move in from other places, the bring germs and stuff from those places and people seem to all get a "cold" after a storm ect... Is there any validity to this theoery at all or any scientific studies on it??? I know a crazy question:)

Hey here is what I have read and heard about why people get sick after storms..

First like someone said a min ago..... no power leads to a couple of probelms.. if your house was flooded or has had leaks from the storm then you are most likely going to grow mold in your house that you cant see which causes many health issues with a number of people that same problem does not have to be in your home it could be the cofined spaces of shelters, cars, or anything were you and a lot of people have been for a number of days.. which leads to the spread of germs....
and then you have the death of animals that are rotting causing germs and disiese to foster and spread by the heat and winds after the storm ...

i highly dout that the storm picks up germs and spreads them ... i would say so only if it were a dry storm .. but hurricanes are very wet and there is a lot of salt and other natrual filters.... that would clean the air.. it has been stated that after large storms not just hurricanes the air is at its cleanest....

[OuterBanker]

Let us not forget the baby boom that occurs about 9 months later.

[Scorpion]

Let us not forget the baby boom that occurs about 9 months later.

I know. Honestly, wouldn't grown adults know about condoms?

[abajan]

Back in the '80s, Barbados was invaded with thousands of locusts that hitched a ride on a weather system (I don't remember if it was a storm) all the way from Africa.

If locust can do it, I'm sure bacteria (some of which are known to survive in what would normally to be considered very harsh enviroments) can easily be transported in like manner.

[TS Zack]

New Orleans is dealing with a baby boom....

Nothing better to do when you have no power.

[AnnularCane]

I don't know... With no power and no air-conditioning for days on end, I think the last thing I'd want would be close contact with another human being.

[TS Zack]

Tell that to the thousands of new parents! It gets boring quickly playing with flashlights.

[senorpepr]

Let us not forget the baby boom that occurs about 9 months later.

I know. Honestly, wouldn't grown adults know about condoms?

FWIW, that's not typically on the shopping list just before a storm. People are more worried about food and water, etc.

Then, after the storm, without any stores in operation and no electricity... what else is there do to?

[trendal]

I think this is total BS.

Most bacteria/virii cannot survice for more than a matter of minutes outside of their host organisms. Even so-called "airborne" virii like the common cold cannot survive more than 30-60 minutes outside of a human host...the conditions in the air are just not what a bacteria/virus needs to grow!


I think what most everyone else has been saying is correct: the increase in pathogens after a storm would come from increased growth of the pathogens that were already present in the area. Lots of water-soaked debris in a warm environment gives bacteria and ESPECIALLY molds an excellent medium to grow in. The molds are probably responsible for most (if not all) of the respiratory infections.

[Lindaloo]

There was alot of staph infections here after Katrina.