I grew up in the Leave it the Beaver era, and I was 100% a boy. We would play outside all day, pet the dog, and get dirty. Mom always told us to go wash out hands before eating. If there was no visible dirt, I ran the sink, and the water never touched my hands.
I few years back we went to the factory in Kentucky that makes baseball bats. The Louisville Slugger factory.
https://www.sluggermuseum.com/
It is a cool place and tons of hands on displays, bats to pick up and feel and understand. The place was packed with people, handling the same displays.
We had a tour of the bat making part, then off to lunch with a bus ride to the restaurant. I remember thinking my first order of business is go wash my hands when we got there. The bus driver screwed up and took us to the wrong restaurant. They were very accommodating, and after a few minutes in the lobby, they found us a back room to seat us. I forgot about washing my hands with all that confusion. I ordered a nice burger and proceed to eat it with my hands. I had zero after effects.
My immune system works. I have only had the flu twice in my life.
Now don't get me wrong, I 100% believe in germs, and washing my hands. I have eaten lunch with hands that were filthy from working on my car, but hunger drove me to it. To my knowledge (memory) I have never had food poisoning in my life. Many times I have eaten somewhere and other in the group complained the next day of food illness, and I had the same thing.