Are your deliveries, parcels and post safe?

With all this sterilisation and sanitisation, is there a risk that our personal immunities will be deficient? I should like to acquire some resistance to viruses by natural means. I would appreciate a scientific opinion on this.

There’s no simple answer, John. Everything which enters our bodies affects us in different ways; people who had received either the TB vaccine as a baby, or the smallpox vaccine, or both, were up to 2.5 times less likely to develop melanoma, which came as a surprise.

In Italy, Giuseppe Mastrangelo of the University of Padua in Italy and colleagues found that dairy workers in the province were far less likely to get lung cancer compared with their peers who worked in fields or orchards (Indoor and Built Environment, vol 13, p 35). The greater the number of cows, the greater the protection.

Harvey Checkoway at the University of Washington, and his team looked at cancer rates among female cotton textile workers in Shanghai, China, where detailed records reveal past exposures to endotoxin. Those with higher and longer endotoxin exposure on the job had a lower incidence of many cancer types, including lung, breast, liver, stomach and pancreatic cancer.

But it’s possibly better to get the dirt when you’re young. As we age our immune systems become less competent.

Acquiring resistance to disease (other than by artificial means such as vaccination) involves being infected and our natural defences successfully dealing with the problem. Bacterial infections are much better understood than viral ones. With most bacterial infections the infective dose is quite high but there are exceptions, such as E. coli O157:H7 for which it is estimated that between 10 and 100 bacteria can cause infection, which can be fatal.

Some virus infections such as the common cold and norovirus are common and highly infectious but not usually serious. On the other hand, smallpox was reputed to kill a third of its victims. It’s 40 years ago since smallpox was declared to have been eradicated but if it was used a weapon today, there might be few who still have any immunity. Mutation of viruses makes it more difficult to develop a vaccine, which is why the ‘flu vaccine may not offer protection against seasonal influenza.

I think it would be unwise to try and acquire immunity to viruses by natural means, especially during the current coronavirus outbreak.

Ian provides some examples of how our environment can affect our health.

Jenny – All the hand washing is likely to cause skin problems and I recently had to use hand-cream for the first time in my life. I suggest wearing nitrile gloves when you want protection. These can easily be washed for reuse – most easily done while still wearing them. When you do wash your hands and rinse thoroughly to remove soap.

To continue this convo I have switched to The Lobby.

Easier, more effective and cheaper to use gloves to open the mail, then wash the gloves with soap and water.

I wonder if the anti-bacterial spray has any effect on coronavirus.

That will, of course, depend on its chemical comnposition. If it contains soap or bleach, then it ought to have some effect. But if, as might also be likely, it contains other specific ingredients chosen for their known antibacterial effects, then those probably won’t be effective against the virus.

Can you tell I’ve been reading a lot of small print lately, when buying household cleaners.

It would have been a great help if the government had laid down rules for couriers etc. to comply with and then we would all know what to expect.

The last time I had a delivery, several weeks ago, I stayed behind my car and asked for the driver to put the box anywhere on the drive, and when he had departed I collected it.

Like care homes and other customer-facing businesses they are meant to be professional and keep up with the legislation that affects them. Their trade associations are there to advise. I do not believe we need the government to do more than lay down the framework.

I see the Scottish Government noe permits lawn bowls to be played but it is Bowls Scotland who have set out the detailed guide.

An interesting survey, John. I rarely use carrier services but, so far, have experienced no problems.

However, what interested me about this was the extent to which Citizens’ Advice carry out this kind of research. Just one more example was a brief “report” on the way post offices are handling banking services (generally a positive review). I had not realised the scope of their work, but particularly how much it may overlap and duplicate that of the Consumers’ Association. I wonder how much the two CAs work together to make the best use of the resources of each and pool knowledge and results.

@jon-stricklin-coutinho, Jon, do Which? work with Citizens’ Advice?

I don’t use carriers often, but have had very few problems over the years, even with the notorious Yodel. I used to prefer Royal Mail because it was easy to pick up non-delivered items at a local depot but that was before I moved home.

Unfortunately we rarely have any choice over which carrier is used to bring goods ordered on-line or by mail order [unless it is ‘sold and dispatched by Amazon’].

In our experience the slowest is Yodel who can take three or four days to deliver a parcel after its receipt by them at their local depot [according to their tracking information].

I would also criticise consignors who provide unhelpful or no information on their dispatching process.

I may be different from most people but in most cases I am not concerned about when products will be delivered. Obviously there are exceptions.

I recently ordered a product and the confirmation email indicated a delivery date of 7-14 December. OK, and hopefully I will get a narrower window soon. A couple of days later the estimate was 30 November – 7 December. The uncertainty is one of the reasons that I am not keen on ordering online.

I would like online retailers to state which retailer(s) they use.

Oops. That should read that I would like online retailers to say which carriers they use to deliver goods.

There is a significant and sizeable post of mine that seems to have gone missing.

Have you checked the dustbin?

We do often refer people to Citizens Advice on an ad-hoc basis @malcolm-r, particularly when there’s something that isn’t within the scope of the consumer advice Which? can offer (we feature their free debt advice service as one of our contacts for help with debt, for example).

Having asked around a bit as well, I don’t think we’re formally working with them on anything at the moment, though I’d imagine Which? may be open to it, depending on the circumstances.

@jon-stricklin-coutinho, thanks Jon. It seemed to me as Citizen’s Advice seem to cover some of the ground also dealt with by Which?, and as both, no doubt, have limited resources, formal collaboration would be of benefit to both organisations to avoid unnecessary duplication of work.

Good research is expensive and I think it would benefit both organisations to share the workload and the results.

Excellent suggestion.

It’s useful to help make people aware of other services, as well as cooperating. It was good to learn about Which? making a regular contribution to BBC Watchdog. I avoided that programme because of a former presenter with a somewhat abrasive style.

A friend told me that the consumer slot had moved to the Unnecessary Show on BBC1.