Dangers of being like Monk

I love the show "Monk" and although I love to be clean, I do not have OCD and do not wipe my hands upon contact with someone. The body has a very robust immune system, but like most systems in the body, it must be stressed to perform optimally. Want to live long and prosper? Expose yourself to some dirt. Early exposure to dirt has been shown to increase the life of fruit flies by 30%, whereas latter exposure had no effect or was even detrimental. The Monkish War on Bacteria is wrongheaded. The rising incidence of asthma and allergies in the developed (cleaner) world, doctors say, could be tied to the relatively sterile environments our children live in compared to a generation ago. Children not exposed to harmful bacteria, or conversely, given antibiotics to kill bacteria, do not receive the germ workout required to make antibodies. More specifically, they do not develop T-helper cells, which fight foreign cellular invaders and minimize allergies. This has been called the "Pigpen Effect."