News

“Almost by definition, an exercise gym is swarming with objects and surfaces [that may] have been contaminated by other humans,” says Stephen Berger, MD, board-certified in infectious diseases and clinical microbiology. “Repeated contact with workout machines, weights, etc., can transfer an invisible layer of bacteria, viruses and even parasites to our own skin and clothing.”

“Pathogens can be seen directly in specimens from the patient, often using a microscope, or grown in the laboratory over a period of days to weeks,” Stephen Berger, founder of the Global Infectious Diseases and Epidemiology Network, said.
…
“In most viral infections, specific antibodies can be detected for months to years following infection — and in many cases well into old age,” says Berger.

“All three countries have a coordinated, nationwide, centrally planned response as well as travel restrictions, both domestic and international,” said Dr. Stephen Berger, a double board-certified expert in infectious diseases and microbiology and the founder of GIDEON, the Global Infectious Disease and Epidemiology Online Network.

In addition, Berger told Healthline that “both Vietnam and South Africa have been strictly enforcing their chosen policies with police and military involvement. New Zealand and South Africa have employed nationwide lockdowns.”

Stephen Berger, M.D., a board-certified infectious disease doctor and co-founder of the Global Infectious Diseases and Epidemiology Network (GIDEON), an online diagnosis and reference tool for infectious diseases and microbiology … [explains] “A gym is just another venue in which disease can be passed from person to person, and the risk of contracting COVID-19 might increase there, where group sports and games require close personal contact,” he explains. “The fact that you might be young and healthy won’t affect your chance of becoming [infected]; it will really only increase your chances of surviving an infection without severe or fatal consequences.”

“Mobile phones are like international ambulatory five-star luxury hotels” for germs. In fact, he said, “no other type of everyday object can compete.”

That point was seconded by Dr. Stephen Berger, co-founder of Global Infectious Diseases and Epidemiology Network (GIDEON) in Tel Aviv, Israel.

“Cellular phones are ideal vehicles for the virus of COVID-19,” he agreed. “They are repeatedly exposed to material exhaled from our mouth and nose and spend literally hours in our rather filthy hands. Viruses of this type are known to survive on plastics and stainless steel for two to three hours; on aluminum for two to eight hours, on cardboard and paper for up to 24 hours, and on ceramic or glass for up to five days.”

The answer here is: probably. Whether it’s safe or not depends largely on two things: where you live and the time you choose to go for a walk, says Stephen Berger, MD, a board-certified infectious disease doctor and co-founder of GIDEON (the Global Infectious Diseases and Epidemiology Network), an online diagnosis and reference tool for infectious diseases and microbiology.

Using the Global Infectious Diseases and Epidemiology Online Network (GIDEON) database, it was even possible to date the start of this increase of global outbreaks in rickettsial diseases in 1971.

“I reached out to an expert in infectious disease, Dr. Stephen Berger. Berger is board-certified in both infectious diseases and clinical microbiology and is a co-founder of GIDEON, the Global Infectious Diseases and Epidemiology Network. Here are his insights into the connections between coronavirus and food. The interview has been condensed and edited.”

“Masks should be as closely fitted to the skin as possible,” Dr. Stephen Berger, an infectious disease expert, and co-founder of GIDEON, the Global Infectious Diseases and Epidemiology Network, tells PEOPLE.
…
“The nose must be covered,” says Berger. “Note that when people are tested for the virus, a swab is inserted into the nose — because that is where the virus is!”

“We are all swimming through an invisible swamp of bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites,” noted Dr. Stephen Berger, co-founder of the Global Infectious Diseases and Epidemiology Network in Tel Aviv, Israel. “Those bookshelves and those pictures on the wall are teeming with ugly microbes. Not to mention your cellular phone, wristwatch, eyeglasses and everything else in your world.”

9. Realize that covering up your face is not an excuse to not social distance:  … “Extremely small particles, including the virus itself, might pass through the spaces that allow air to pass,” explained Stephen Berger, M.D., an infectious disease expert and co-founder of GIDEON, the Global Infectious Diseases and Epidemiology Network. He adds that facial coverings do not cover the eyes, which is another channel in which the virus can be transmitted. “And face masks do not protect our hands, clothing, objects that we may be carrying,” says Berger. “All of these are exposed to contaminated secretions and might infect us at some later time.”

“Some of the underlying reasons why COVID-19 may be more deadly for men than women may include the fact that heart disease is more common in elderly men than in elderly women,” Dr. Stephen Berger, an infectious disease expert and co-founder of the Global Infectious Diseases and Epidemiology Network (GIDEON), told Healthline. “Studies also find that high blood pressure and liver disease are more prevalent in men and these all contribute to more negative outcomes with COVID-19.”