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Asked by areehaj to Rosie on 10 Mar 2014.
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Rosie Coates answered on 10 Mar 2014:
One reason bacteria is all over your body is because your body is covered in lots of things bacteria can use as energy, or food. Our skin is covered in natural oils which the bacteria can break down and release energy from.
Another reason is simply that bacteria is everywhere, on everything. When we touch things like pens, keyboards, doors, the floor, food we pick up some of the bacteria that has been living there. Some of this bacteria stays on our skin for just a short time before it dies and we call this transient bacteria. Some of this bacteria is good at getting nutrients and energy from our skin and surviving our skin’s natural defenses so it lives on our skin all the time. We call this resident bacteria.
You say having bacteria on our skin all the time is dreadful but it’s actually really important and useful. The resident bacteria works together with our immune system to stop harmful bacteria from living on our skin and invading our bodies. This means that this good bacteria actually helps to stop disease.
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Comments
Joe commented on :
Rosie is right: having bacteria is not dreadful! In fact, without bacteria you wouldn’t be able to digest your food properly: friendly bacteria live in your digestive system and help you all the time.
lionking9 commented on :
What about BAD bacteria…??!!