接触细菌很重要

怀夏　选译

Professor John Standford, a bacteriologist,explains why exposure to germs is so important.

The idea that germs are bad for us came outof the early part of the last century when therewas a lot of concentration on teaching peopleabout bacteria and the germ theory of infection.

The scientists who became most certainthat all germs are bad for us, according to ProfStandford, were the pharmacologists who weredeveloping drugs specifically to kill germs andthis was built on by pople selling disinfectantsand other household products. But Prof Standfordsays that in fact the really important ones that youneed to kill are a very small number amongst thegreat majority.

When you start as a bacteriologist you learnabout the organisms that cause disease. As youprogress further in your knowledge of this, yourealise that there are many close relatives of theorganisms that cause disease which are in yoursurroundings and it’s by meeting these that youdevelop protection.

“Just as when you are a small child and youlearn languages and your brain is important in theway in which you learn languages, then silentlyand behind the scenes, the immune system isalso learning. But it learns from the things thatyou inadvertently need. The things you eat, thethings you swallow, the things that get into cuts,the things that get into your eye, almost anyplace where you have direct contact with theenvironment, the immune system learns from it.”

Prof Standford believes that it is not justthat we separate ourselves from the environmentby washing off the environment or by beingcareful not to touch dirty things, it is basicallythe way in which we no longer contact thegeneral outside environment at all. Childrentoday watch television a lot of the time and playwith computers a lot of the time. There are manypressures which prevent children from being ableto go out and play outside as they used to be ableto do.

Prof Standford said,“My current dream isthat we can develop a vaccine which will replacethe effects of to much hygiene and keepingourselves too far away from the environment.Yes, there are germs that are bad for you but the great majority of them are not bad for you at all,others are neutral and others are definitely there and benefit you. This may seem like heretical to many people but if you word in this field it is not heretical at all, it's what we've all come to learn to believe.”

细菌学家约翰・斯坦德弗德教授解释了为什么暴露于细菌之中是如此重要。

细菌有害于人类的想法来自于上个世纪的早期，当时，人们很重视有关细菌和细菌感染理论的教育。

根据斯坦德弗德教授的说法，最肯定所有细菌都有害于人类这一理论的科学家是那些当时正在开发灭菌药物的药理学家们，然后这一观念又被推销消毒剂和其他家用产品的人加以发展。但是斯坦德弗德教授认为，实际上必须杀死的真正有害细菌只是大多数细菌中的一个很小的部分。

当你开始成为一个细菌学家时，你了解了那些引起疾病的微生物。当你在这方面的知识继续增长时，你会认识到在你的环境中有许多与致病生物体相近的微生物，而正是与它们的接触使你的身体产生自我保护机能。

“这就好比当你是一个小孩子，在学习语言时，你的大脑在语言这一方面显得非常重要。其实，免疫系统也悄悄地在幕后进行学习，但是学习的内容是从你不经意的事情中获得的，从你吃的东西中，从你吞咽的东西中，从进入你伤口的东西中，从进入你眼睛的东西中，几乎是每一个你与外界直接接触的地方，免疫系统都从中学到了东西。”

斯坦德弗德教授认为，我们与外界的隔离不只是表现在给环境消毒和不碰脏东西，主要的是我们根本不再接触广大的外部世界。今天的孩子们很多时间都花在看电视和玩电脑上，有很多的压力禁止孩子们走到户外，像从前那样玩耍。

斯坦德弗德教授说：“我现在的梦想是能够开发出一种疫苗，取代太讲卫生、太远离环境的做法。的确，自然界存在着对你有害的细菌，但是大多数根本无害。有些细菌是中性的，还有些有益于你。这种观点对于许多人来讲像是异端邪说，但是如果你在这个领域工作的话，你就会明白这绝不是异端邪说，而是我们已经发现并相信的事实。”