I'm currently sick because of scarlet fever but I got treated with antibiotics. I know that after 1.5 day using antibiotics the streptococci I release at home are dangerous anymore. But my question is, what about the streptococci I've spread before? I've read that Streptococcus pyogenes can survive 3 days to 6.5 months outside the host, does that mean, I have to disinfect the whole house? And if so, with what should I desinfect? I worked heavily on the laptop, how do I desinfect that? Thank you.
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2$\begingroup$ Seeing that the OP is enquiring about the survivability of a virus outside a host, I don't consider this a medical question. $\endgroup$– The Last WordCommented Feb 27, 2015 at 9:41
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3$\begingroup$ @TheLastWord .... "does that mean, I have to desinfect the whole house? And if so, with what should I desinfect?": This is a health advice $\endgroup$– WYSIWYGCommented Feb 27, 2015 at 9:57
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4$\begingroup$ I'm sorry, I didn't find any medical/health stackexchange, and my question is about the survival of a bacteria, why is that not related to biology and bacteriology? I highly doubt that many physician that know. I just want to know, how long they survive and how big the danger of infection is, implying whether I have to desinfect some thing or not. $\endgroup$– user14669Commented Feb 27, 2015 at 11:47
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$\begingroup$ Please see here to understand how health advice works:meta.biology.stackexchange.com/questions/2885/… $\endgroup$– One FaceCommented Feb 28, 2015 at 13:36
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2$\begingroup$ It is hard to answer this question. There is an en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infectious_dose by every disease, so you might don't need to disinfect the whole house. (I don't know the exact number by S. pyogenes, it probably depends on host.) You can reduce the risk by cleaning the tools you touch most frequently. You should find something which does not damage the plastic your laptop is made of. @TheLastWord S. pyogenes is a bacteria and not a virus. Btw. I don't think this is a medical question either, it is about disinfection and not about how to cure the disease. $\endgroup$– inf3rnoCommented Feb 28, 2015 at 16:53
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1 Answer
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The Streptococci are a part of the normal human flora.
The streptococci are widely distributed in nature and frequently form part of the normal human flora (seeTable 29-1). Approximately 5-15% of humans carry S pyogenes or S agalactiae in the nasopharynx.
Please see:http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK7611/#!po=51.4706 for more details on epidemiology of streptococci.
As 5-15% humans have it in their nasopharynx, it is not really possible to maintain streptococci free environment. It will get repopulated quickly.
Usually the reason you get infected is because of some alteration in your normal flora.
S pneumoniae and, to a lesser extent, S pyogenes are part of the normal human nasopharyngeal flora. Their numbers are usually limited by competition from the nasopharyngeal microbial ecosystem and by nonspecific host defense mechanisms, but failure of these mechanisms can result in disease. More often disease results from the acquisition of a new strain following alteration of the normal flora. (From the same article, under pathogenesis)
So basically disinfecting wont help much as humans have the streptococci as a part of their normal flora. And it is very likely that the people you live with or come in contact with regularly have the streptococci already in their flora (either they got it from you or they originally had it themselves).
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$\begingroup$ If something is wrong please tell it in the comments along with down voting so that the OP can get the correct view! $\endgroup$– One FaceCommented Feb 28, 2015 at 13:38
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$\begingroup$ If someone simply downvotes for the sake of downvoting then I don't mind! Have fun :) $\endgroup$– One FaceCommented Feb 28, 2015 at 14:32
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1$\begingroup$ I don't think this is true. There are many strains of S. pyogenes, and s/he is probably infected with a new one. $\endgroup$– inf3rnoCommented Feb 28, 2015 at 16:55
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$\begingroup$ I pointed it out in the second quote, that a new strain (a change in flora) can cause it @inf3rno $\endgroup$– One FaceCommented Feb 28, 2015 at 17:33
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1$\begingroup$ With this logic we can call every infection as "change in the flora"... $\endgroup$– inf3rnoCommented Feb 28, 2015 at 17:39