These days everyone's going on about friendly bacteria. Unfortunately, unless you've got bionic eyes or a pair of super-microscope glasses, you can't see the little buggers. A shame, as brainy biology grads reckon these invisible-to-the-eye micro organisms are omnipresent. In fact, there are probably several million swarming around your head right now. Urgh!

Perhaps it's this new wave of infectious disease fascination that prompted the good people at Plush to create a range of cute and cuddly critters modeled on a whole host of disease-causing germs and viruses.

Plush Microbes have got to be the most innovative soft toys we've seen in ages because they look just like the nasty little critters on which they are based. Sort of. (Well they are a million times bigger, a few thousand times cuter, brightly colored and furry). You can judge for yourself as each cutesy Microbe comes complete with a photo of its real-life counterpart, along with fascinating information about the critter in question.



Plush Microbes make great gifts for anyone who's feeling under the weather, especially if you match the microbe to the malady. We're currently stocking Stomach Ache (Shigella), Sore Throat (Streptococcus), Cough (B. Pertussis), The Flu (Orthomyoxvirus), Bad Breath (Porphyromonas Gingivalis), Common Cold (Rhinovirus) and Kissing Disease (Epstein-Barr). Actually, looking at the last two Microbes, maybe that's not such a good idea.



'Urgh' and 'aah' in equal measure, Microbes are infectiously cute and great reminders of the invisible universe around us. So catch one soon before the inevitable Microbe epidemic totally ravages our stock. Now if you'll excuse us, we're off to wash our hands. Twice.