Germ Warfare

In with an INGROWN TOENAIL and out with a URINARY TRACT INFECTION! Hospital Acquired Infections – how can we prevent them? One of the scariest things that can happen to you while in hospital, is to pick up an infection. We all visit hospitals to seek treatment and get better, not pick ...more

Earlier this year when my mother and I went to see my little sister in an isolation ward in a hospital, the sanitizing procedures the nurse made us do before we entered were really a little bit annoying. I found myself rolling my eyes as I am not known for my patience. However, I now understand t ...more

I absolutely love trying the food made by street vendors and eating meals made in pop-up food trucks or hidden restaurants.  From Kota to Pulled Pork, from Boerie Rolls to Gourmet Burgers, from Sandwiches to Salads, from Brownies to Triple Layer Frosted Cakes. These pop-up “venues&rdqu ...more

Four months after the shock of over 200 people dying from Listeriosis in South Africa and the Enterprise Foods Polokwane factory having to be shut down, mountains of recalled processed meat is still being destroyed. How do you get rid of what is equivalent to 3.6 million 1kg rolls of polony?!&nbs ...more

TO KOTA OR NOT TO KOTA? – Listeriosis Lurking… Kota, a popular township street food, is like nothing else I have ever eaten. The ultimate local treat, a quarter (“kota”) loaf of bread is hollowed out and filled again. Unlike the Durban bunny chow though, its contents are ...more

Your home should be your safest and cleanest space to be in.  This topic highlights the places where unseen germs may be lurking. 

AS DAY ZERO IN CAPE TOWN LOOMS… …Johannesburg is flooding in places!  We have received so much rain in the Highveld; I wish it was possible to pipe it down to the Cape.  Whilst some of us are moaning about the rain, the overcast weather and “what happened to s ...more

It's March and people will be getting their flu vaccines preparing for the cold days of winter coming. Do we get sick because it is suddenly cold or hot outside? Yes, we do because different viruses thrive in different temperatures, but you would have to be exposed to the virus be ...more

HOTEL ROOM ITCH I had a sudden itchy moment a few days ago when I was looking for places to stay for a holiday I am planning. I remembered that a friend of mine got some strange skin disease called Impetigo a few years ago from the sheets in some hotel room. This must have been some dodgy hote ...more

After having had my daughter, I stayed at home for one year because I was extremely scared of taking her to day-care.  I had heard other mothers tell each other how exhausted they were as their children were constantly sick from something or other they had picked up at crèche.  I wa ...more