TV shows about the germiness of motel bedding or the germiness of raw chicken have made a vivid impact. I've noticed that increasing numbers of perfectly sane people won't leave home without a bottle of an antibacterial hand cleaner like Purell, so they can sluice down hourly. The citizens of Japan are even more concerned about hygiene than Americans. Japanese manufacturers pump out antibacterial telephones, scissors and deposit books. One company claims to sell a million antibacterial ballpoints a month.
Some department stores have whole sections of antibacterial stationery.
Sanitation has been a triumph of modern medicine, all but eradicating many diseases and parasites. We've whipped the body louse, trichinosis, typhoid and childbed fever, and we're not a bit nostalgic. But there are signs that this very preoccupation with good hygiene is making some of us sick. Many immune system disorders are on the rise. There we sit, in our sparkling kitchens, using spotless glasses of pure filtered water to wash down antihistamines.