Fifteen Seconds to Disease Prevention
Contact: Michelle Peregoy (804) 864-7963
Overview:
Fifteen seconds is all it takes to properly wash your hands and prevent the spread of diseases like the common cold, influenza, salmonella, hepatitis A, and staphylococcal organisms. Throughout the day germs accumulate on hands through direct contact with people, contaminated surfaces, foods, even animals and animal waste. If hands are not washed frequently enough, you can infect yourself with these germs by touching your eyes, nose or mouth. And you can spread these germs to others by touching them or by touching surfaces that they also touch, such as doorknobs.
What you need to know:
- Insist that children wash their hands properly and frequently. Tell your children to wash their hands for as long as it takes them to sing their ABCs, "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" or the "Happy Birthday" song. This works especially well with younger children. Teach by example by practicing good hand-washing technique.
- Hands need to be washed after: using the bathroom or changing a diaper, handling raw food, playing with a pet, handling garbage, tending to someone who is sick or injured, coughing or sneezing, handling articles contaminated with flood water or sewage, and after touching things many people have handled.
- Always wash hands before preparing or eating food, treating a cut or wound, inserting or removing contact lenses, and before preparing or taking medications.
- To properly wash hands, using soap and warm running water, wash all surfaces thoroughly, including wrists, palms, back of hands, fingers and under fingernails. Rub hands together for at least 10 to 15 seconds and then rinse. Dry with a clean and/or disposable towel. Use the towel to turn off the water faucet.
- Alcohol-based hand sanitizers - which don’t require water - are an excellent alternative to hand washing, particularly when soap and water aren’t available. Using these products can result in less skin dryness and irritation than hand washing.
