That's not how nosocomial infections are spread through a hospital. It's not because the place is too clean, but because something was dirty. It's from people that don't wash their hands and/or equipment or isolate properly or in a timely manner.
Lionfish, I did not come up with that. That was "Popular Science Magazine" (I added a few lines to it)
Quote: (kind of)
"Popular Science" (August 2015) there is an article about this very topic. The author states that the most germ free environment today is on the International Space Station. Everything is sterilized including the air. All the surfaces are coated with bacteria limiting coatings, even the water is treated with iodine and biocidal nano silver so the only bacteria present are the ones coming from the astronauts themselves. They can't open a window or send out for Pizza (I added that last sentence) so there is no fresh influx of microbes to balance the ecosystem. Sounds like quarantining doesn't it? ( I also added that sentence) He also states that a loss of gut bacteria correlates with many diseases and could impede longer space travel.
If we lose our gut bacteria, our immune system goes dormant.
In the real world bacteria, viruses and parasites evolved right along with other organisms that help keep each organism in check. They have their enemies and friends. When we mess with the system by using antibiotics or extended periods of quarantine, or remove living bacteria from their food, we are dooming the fish to a life where they are on the verge of getting a fatal disease.
This is also the reason so many diseases are contracted in hospitals, a place where great pains are taken to keep the place clean. They are clean, so the only bacteria present are from sick people with no other bacteria or viruses to counteract them. It is now thought that people using those hand sanitizers from very young are at a higher risk of becoming an allergic toddler.
End.
Bob, I realize we don't quarantine in a germ free environment as that would be impossible, but we try to quarantine in a parasite free environment and I think that is a mistake. Unlike most people I want parasites living in my tank, yes, including velvet.
Why is it that my fish are immune? Why can I add fish any time with any disease and have no problems? I can't see the parasites or know their friends but I "think" they are happily living in my tank and have been for decades.
I always mention feeding my fish with live foods as much as possible, that is to provide living bacteria to the gut of the fish. I learned that through trial and error but lately there has been research (which I linked many times) that proves fish require living bacteria and parasites in their diet to remain healthy and immune. I wish I came up with that myself, but I didn't.
People have said our immune systems are much like fish. They are not. The only similarity to fish is that we both have mechanisms to kill certain bacteria, viruses and parasites. We humans are also covered in parasites, on our skin and in our guts.
The main defense a fish has from diseases is in their slime. Most of us don't exude slime. Well I did date a slimy girl once but I digress.
Here is something I published but I am not smart enough or good looking enough to have come up with it myself. I did a lot of research to find out all of this but my experience confirmed it for "me".
This is where we differ from fish as we don't regenerate limbs or exude slime. We also don't make our antibodies in our kidney as fish do and fish have no bone marrow as we do which is where we make most of our antibodies. Fish have anti-parisitic properties on their skin, we have tattoos, "Right Guard" and little else.
It takes much more calories in a fish to stay immune than us. That is because (as I said) fish are in water and disease organisms, especially parasites can swim better than they can fly and fish constantly eat parasites and harmful bacteria at every meal. We tend to cook our food and try not to eat rotten, live food or "each other" as much as we can. It is also because fish exude slime which washes off constantly. Have you ever tried to hold a moray eel? You can't. And if you did, you would be covered in slime as those things are full of the stuff. Pick up a hagfish, then kiss your girlfriend.
The many roles of fish slime
The first way slime protects the fish is mechanical. Slime traps bacteria, viruses, and parasites and just makes it difficult for those pathogens to get to the skin of the fish. Slime is constantly washed away just from the process of the fish swimming or, in some cases, burrowing into the substrate. When the slime washes away, so do the pathogens. But unfortunately for the fish, pathogens evolved right alongside the fish and some of those irritants manage to hold on. Luckily for the fish, the slime is also a “living” part of the immune system with all the anti-pathogen devices that are also inside the fish, so the slime, besides slowing down the pathogen, has the ability to kill most of the offending organisms. (Many supermodels have bodyguards for that.)
Fish slime covers the entire outside of the fish, even the fins and eyes, extending into the gills. That is also the reason fish can quickly regenerate fins. If a fin is damaged, the living slime covers the damaged area, allowing the fish to send cells to the site to repair the damage. If we get an injury, it is easily infected and takes a long time to heal because the outer layer of our skin is dead, so we have to wait for a scab to form to protect the area, then we have to wait for the scab to eventually fall off before the area is healed. During that time, bacteria can enter the wound, causing infection or worse. There is a study going on that uses fish slime to treat human skin wounds.
Slime production takes energy!
Fish continually produce slime and it, like developing eggs, is a huge burden and energy drain on the fish, requiring many calories every day to form efficiently. If a fish is injured or under stress, it will produce more slime. Slime production will also increase if an irritant, such as copper, is used in an attempt to cure a parasite. Extra slime will also make it harder for a parasite to get hold of the skin of a fish and make it easier for the fish to slough off extra slime to help eliminate parasites.
Fish slime is the first—and best—line of defense a fish has. As I said, the slime is alive and just like the insides of the fish, its immune system works with anti-biological, anti-viral, and anti-parasitic substances.
Imparting immunity
These substances, just like in us, depend on an earlier infection so the immune system can recognize the offending pathogen. Some of this immunity comes from the mother and is transferred to the fry as it is developing in the womb. If this were not so, baby fish would have a very hard time surviving in the sea, as their slime coat is very thin.
Also, like us, some of these pathogen fighting substances depend on occasional meetings of the fish and these offending pathogens, which is the reason we humans need occasional injections of anti-viral or bacterial serums to protect us. Before we discovered anti-tetanus shots, many people died from minor injuries. Fish in the sea are constantly exposed to these pathogens, but in a tank, they are not, which is the reason for all the posts in disease forums. Unfortunately, there is much more energy going into curing fish than protecting fish from disease in the first place.
