I am guilty of this “whistleblowing behavior” myself. Before and after every trip, I place my gym bag on my bed to pack and unpack. It’s the easiest way to access my closet and laundry basket. It’s also a disgusting concept to many people.
When I asked the question in this week’s column on Instagram Earlier this week, dozens of people responded with their rage.
“It’s a crime!” one person wrote.
“I just threw up a little in my mouth,” said another.
Other responses included varying degrees of profanity.
Their point: think about where your luggage is. We roll our suitcases on the sidewalks where dead rats have been crushed; drag them on soiled hotel carpets; put them in the airport toilet where… I’ll stop.
But “disgusting” is different from bad for you. Is there a reason why my backpacking behavior is actually risky?
From the start, Lin H. Chen – associate professor at Harvard Medical School and director of the Travel Medicine Center at Mount Auburn Hospital – sided with my online enemies.
“My common sense tells me I wouldn’t want to put my suitcase on the bed I’m going to sleep in because of where the suitcases traveled,” she said.
Mark Gendreau – physician and chief medical officer of BILH Beverly and Addison Gilbert hospitals in Massachusetts – said much the same thing: “I don’t think it’s a good idea to go home and put your suitcase on your bed. »
Gendreau nevertheless advises against opting for a “Bubble boy» approach to travel.
“You probably already have a ton of bacteria that you’ve picked up from hotels, travel, school or work that are just part of your natural flora,” he said.
“The possibility of flesh-eating bacteria ‘coming back on your bag’ would be extremely rare,” Gendreau said. Our bodies are used to fighting or working with the many microorganisms that we encounter in our suitcases and elsewhere. So “if you’re healthy and your immune system is largely intact, it shouldn’t be a problem,” he added.
Instead of MRSABoth Gendreau and Chen said their main concern about packing in bed was drawing pins (yes, even if you’re not there Paris).
Bedbugs are known to go out in travel hotspots like hotels, trains and cruise ships, among their usual haunts like apartments. If they end up in your suitcase while traveling, you don’t want to deliver them straight to your own bed.
So, where to park your luggage? Chen opts for the top of a cabinet or dresser, a suitcase rack or even the floor. Gendreau recommends simply unloading where you do your laundry. And after walking through puddles, buses or train stations, both recommend cleaning your bag with a disinfectant wipe.
After our call, Chen continued to investigate the topic and looked to see if there had been any recent research. She didn’t find anything about germs or infectious agents on the suitcases, but her advice still stands: keep your suitcase off your bed.
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