Preventing Infections: Chain of Infection, Everyday Hygiene, and Protection Surrounding us in the air, in contact with the soil, on everyday objects, and even on our skin are billions of microorganisms—bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites. While the majority of these are harmless or beneficial to our bodies, certain harmful pathogens take advantage of opportunities to enter the body and cause infections. Various illnesses, including colds, the flu, diarrhea, food poisoning, and certain skin infections, can spread through germs. Sometimes infection spreads via contaminated hands, sometimes from unclean food or drinking water, and other times through an infected person’s cough, sneeze,…