Wash Your Hands — Again!
People are constantly catching colds and the flu is common during some parts of the year. It seems like one of the inevitabilities of life. But is it?
You can be infected by the air you breathe, the food you eat, and people you live with or work with. Germs are everywhere.
There are many diseases that can't be cured, and in some cases we don't even know what causes them. But most health professionals agree you can substantially reduce your risk of illness by the simple act of washing your hands often. Dirty hands can be cured. That sounds simple, but most people aren't very consistent at washing as much as they should.
What's the Problem?
According to studies done by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC):
- Only about two thirds of American adults wash after using the toilet - women significantly more often than men. Fecal matter carries a variety of serious infectious diseases.
- One of four adults does not wash after changing a babies diaper - creating a high risk of giving the care giver and other children infectious diarrhea and other diseases.
- Fewer than half of us wash after handling our pets or cleaning up after them.
- Just one in three wash after sneezing or coughing.
- Not even one in five wash after handling money, a major carrier of disease germs.
- In one study, children who washed their hands four times a day missed 51 percent fewer school days due to upset stomach and 24 percent fewer days due to respiratory illness than those who washed less.
- One in three E.coli outbreaks is caused by poor personal hygiene (hand washing) by food handlers.
All the answers to the Hand Washing Quiz are FALSE. Read on to find out why.
What Can You Do?
The CDC says, "The most important thing you can do to keep from getting sick is to wash your hands." Not only common diseases like colds, but more serious diseases like hepatitis A, meningitis, and infectious diarrhea can be prevented by judicious hand washing.
Is there a right and wrong way to wash your hands? Yes, but it only takes a few seconds to do it right.
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Wet your hands using warm (not hot) water and apply soap to kill germs.
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Rub your hands vigorously together and scrub all surfaces.
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Continue to rub and scrub for 10 to 15 seconds (about the length of time it takes to sing "Happy Birthday").
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Rinse well and dry your hands on a paper towel or clean cloth towel.
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Turn off the water using the towel to avoid a recontamination of your clean hands and you can use the same towel to open the door, especially in public places. Door handles are great carriers of germs.
That's all there is to it. Follow these simple steps and repeat often, particularly:
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Before, during, and after you prepare food.
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Before you eat, and after you use the bathroom.
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After handling animals or animal waste.
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When your hands are dirty.
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Every time you sneeze or cough.
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When someone in your home is sick.
How Do Dirty Hands Help Disease-Causing Germs Get Into Your Body?
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One of the most common ways to catch a cold is by rubbing your nose or eyes after your hands have been contaminated by cold germs, such as by coughing or sneezing. Touching another person or even a surface they later touch - including food - can spread your cold.
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Germs can be transmitted from unclean hands to food, usually when the food handler does not wash after using the toilet, whether it is at home or on the job. The germs are then passed on to those who eat the food. Germs can be transmitted from raw, uncooked foods, such as chicken or hamburger, to the hands, then from the hands to other foods, such as salad. Even if the original germs are killed by cooking, the salad and other foods touched will stay contaminated and can infect those who eat them.
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Never put cooked meat back in the unwashed container it was stored in. That can re-contaminate the cooked meat. Don't cut vegetables on the same board on which you have cut meat. That can cause them to become contaminated. Have a separate cutting board for meat and plant foods.
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In families and childcare centers, germs are often transferred from someone changing the diaper of a child with diarrhea to another child or themselves. Children are particularly vulnerable to germs and should wash or have your help in washing their hands often.
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