Your skin cracks and bleeds, your lips shrivel to prunes and your nose feels stuffy and inflamed. Not only is dry winter air uncomfortable, but experts say those skin changes weaken your body’s defenses against sickness-causing germs. But depending on how frequently you clean your machine—and the type of water you fill it with—you may be inhaling harmful microorganisms. While moisture can be a positive thing, it also poses problems.
Moist environments provide a wonderful breeding ground for mold and bacteria. If you neglect to clean your humidifier properly, it can quickly become a cozy incubator for germs—one that aerosolizes those microorganisms and mists them into the air you breathe. Lung issues, from flu-like symptoms to serious infection, are your main worries, identified something we call “humidifier fever,” a form of viral lung inflammation caused by colonized humidifier…
