Handwashing -- Avoiding Germs Begins Here
Do you want to take a hands-on approach to keeping your family healthy this winter? "One of the ways we can help prevent the spread of colds and flu is to teach our children to wash their hands," advises Patti Kieffer, RN, infection control specialist at St. Louis Children's Hospital.
If an entire classroom gets ill this fall or winter, we can't blame it on Mother Nature. Getting wet or cold from being outside will not give your child a cold. In fact, there are more than 200 viruses that cause colds and dozens more that cause upper lung infections. Being in an environment that allows the viruses to survive causes much of the spread of colds and flu.
Colds and flu viruses thrive in cold, dry air. When temperatures drop, we tend to stay indoors in close proximity to others, making it much easier for viruses to be passed along from one person to another. Many viruses live on the surface of desks, toys, pencils or just about anything else a child touches every hour of every day. "That is why hand washing is the most basic and most important way to protect the entire family from colds and flu," Kieffer says.
Here are the most important times to wash your hands:
Before:
- touching or serving food
- performing first aid
- touching your eyes, nose or mouth
After:
- using the rest room
- diapering a baby
- coughing or sneezing
- wiping anyone's nose
- playing with pets
- handling raw meat, poultry or fish
- handling garbage
"Many people wash their hands, but few do it correctly," Kieffer says. To ensure you are doing a good job, she recommends you follow these steps:
- Wet your hands.
- Apply soap (liquid soap is less messy, but bar soap is fine if it is in a dish that drains well.)
- Lather and wash for at least 10-15 seconds. When teaching children to wash, have them recite their A,B,Cs or sing a little jingle. Pay attention to all surfaces of the hands, especially between fingers, under nails and under and around jewelry.
- Rinse and dry. If using a public rest room, turn the faucets off with a paper towel, if available.
If hand washing is done correctly, both viruses and bacteria (germs) will go right down the drain and out of harm's way.
There are other things we can teach our children to help avoid passing along germs to one another.
Encourage children to use tissues -- not their sleeves or bare hands -- to wipe their noses and eyes. Of course, those tissues should be thrown away immediately. Discourage children from sharing water bottles and other drinks. If soap and water are not readily available, Kieffer encourages the use of waterless hand sanitizers. "But nothing takes the place of good old-fashioned soap and water," she says.
