{"id":16061,"date":"2025-10-21T14:46:15","date_gmt":"2025-10-21T18:46:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/?page_id=16061"},"modified":"2025-10-21T14:55:51","modified_gmt":"2025-10-21T18:55:51","slug":"16061-2","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/public-relations-contacts\/archived-news-releases\/2025-regional-news-releases\/16061-2\/","title":{"rendered":"High Five for Hand Hygiene!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>October 15, 2025<br \/>\n<strong>Media Contact:<\/strong>\u00a0Rachel Dumene, <u><a href=\"mailto:Rachel.dumene1@vdh.virginia.gov\">Rachel.dumene1@vdh.virginia.gov<\/a><\/u>, 540-480-4998<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>High Five for Hand Hygiene!<br \/>\n<\/strong><em>Central Shenandoah Health District has the Dirt on\u00a0Global Handwashing Day<\/em><em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p>STAUNTON, Va. \u2013 In honor of <u><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/clean-hands\/globalhandwashingday\/index.html\">Global Handwashing Day<\/a><\/u>, October 15, the Central Shenandoah Health District (CSHD) has some dirt on people that will probably gross you out! We also have some fun ideas for teaching kids the right way to wash.<\/p>\n<p>The filthy truth:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Poop from unwashed hands frequently makes people <u><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/clean-hands\/data-research\/facts-stats\/index.html\">sick<\/a><\/u>.<\/li>\n<li>A single gram of poop, about the weight of a paper clip, can contain one trillion germs.<\/li>\n<li>Only <u><a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/17577074\/\">63%<\/a><\/u>\u00a0of people were seen washing their hands after using public restrooms.<\/li>\n<li>Nearly half of U.S. adults <u><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nfid.org\/new-national-survey-finds-nearly-half-of-us-adults-admit-to-not-washing-their-hands-at-key-moments\/\">admit <\/a><\/u>to not washing their hands at other key times, such as before preparing food or eating.<\/li>\n<li>Germs often spread when someone coughs or sneezes into their hands and then touches another person or thing (handrails, toys, etc.).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Handwashing is a simple and inexpensive way to kill germs.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPersonal responsibility, like washing your own hands, is part of caring for our whole community,\u201d says Dr. Allison Baroco, Acting Health Director for CSHD. \u201cI am a big advocate of handwashing. Always remember to scrub your hands with soap and water. Proper handwashing benefits you and those around you by eliminating those germs that can make everyone sick.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Scrubbing with soap and water can <u><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/clean-hands\/data-research\/facts-stats\/index.html\">cut cases<\/a><\/u>\u00a0of diarrhea by up to 40%, slash missed school days from tummy bugs by nearly 60%, and reduce colds and coughs by more than 20%.<\/p>\n<p>The key is to wash your hands properly. Proper handwashing means scrubbing for at least 20 seconds between the fingers and under the nails. Encourage your kids to properly wash their hands by making it fun with songs or games.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Sing \u201cHappy Birthday to You\u201d song twice or the \u201cAlphabet Song.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Put glitter on their hands and pretend it&#8217;s germs. They need to get rid of all of them!<\/li>\n<li>Use colored or scented soap.<\/li>\n<li>Get a blacklight and look at hands before (dirty) and after washing (clean).<\/li>\n<li>Print <u><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/clean-hands\/communication-resources\/index.html\">posters or stickers <\/a><\/u>to promote good handwashing habits.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If soap and water are not readily available, <u><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/clean-hands\/about\/hand-sanitizer.html\">use a hand sanitizer<\/a><\/u>\u00a0that contains at least 60% alcohol. To learn more, visit the VDH <u><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/haiar\/hand-hygiene\/#HH-Patients\">Hand Hygiene <\/a><\/u>page or contact Central Shenandoah Health District at (540) 332-7830.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>October 15, 2025 Media Contact:\u00a0Rachel Dumene, Rachel.dumene1@vdh.virginia.gov, 540-480-4998 High Five for Hand Hygiene! Central Shenandoah Health District has the Dirt on\u00a0Global Handwashing Day\u00a0 STAUNTON, Va. \u2013 In honor of Global Handwashing Day, October 15, the Central Shenandoah Health District (CSHD) has some dirt on people that will probably gross you out! We also have some [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":518,"featured_media":0,"parent":12292,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[195,197,577,1291,1275,1287,1286,1289,1290,1288],"class_list":["post-16061","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","tag-central-shenandoah-health-district","tag-cshd","tag-dr-allison-baroco","tag-germs","tag-global-handwashing-day","tag-hand-hygiene","tag-hand-sanitizer","tag-hands","tag-handwashing","tag-soap"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>High Five for Hand Hygiene! - Newsroom<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/public-relations-contacts\/archived-news-releases\/2025-regional-news-releases\/16061-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"High Five for Hand Hygiene! - Newsroom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"October 15, 2025 Media Contact:\u00a0Rachel Dumene, Rachel.dumene1@vdh.virginia.gov, 540-480-4998 High Five for Hand Hygiene! Central Shenandoah Health District has the Dirt on\u00a0Global Handwashing Day\u00a0 STAUNTON, Va. \u2013 In honor of Global Handwashing Day, October 15, the Central Shenandoah Health District (CSHD) has some dirt on people that will probably gross you out! 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Central Shenandoah Health District has the Dirt on\u00a0Global Handwashing Day\u00a0 STAUNTON, Va. \u2013 In honor of Global Handwashing Day, October 15, the Central Shenandoah Health District (CSHD) has some dirt on people that will probably gross you out! 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