Influenza, for one. Flu pandemics can kill thousands, or even millions. There are lots of others, of course - e coli, bacterial meningitis, strep, staph, etc. And I don’t even want to get in to the venereal diseases… Every bacteria or virus is assisted through a lack of washing. And water alone doesn’t prevent transmission, as the mythbusters recently showed.
I was being somewhat cheeky when I suggested that those who don’t bathe are equivalent to antivaxers, but I think there’s some truth to it. They seem to me to be people who think that somehow their natural state is “clean” and that they don’t pick up or transmit germs to others. That seems willfully ignorant of how germs and disease are actually spread, and if it were practiced by everyone, I think it would likely result in higher infection rates for a whole host of diseases that can be easily prevented by washing.
