Wash Up to Prevent Illness

It’s cold and flu season. Time for those annual flu shots. Consider this your inner-self reminding you to get the shot. Make your appointment now. My husband and I are getting ours next week. My son already got his.

Aside from flu shots, we can all do a little something to help prevent colds this season — wash our hands. It’s one of the most consistent pieces of advice I hear from the “experts” on how to keep your family from getting sick. That nasty MRSA virus is floating around, threatening to open the door to your home. The best defense, the “experts” say, is to wash your hands. But it’s not enough to just wash your hands. You need to really wash them. That means, using soap and washing for 20 seconds. There’s a new hand soap dispenser for kids that flashes a red light for 20 seconds so you know when you’re done. Twenty seconds is longer than you think. (Read about it on my other blog.)

I Googled the words: how to wash hands to prevent illness and came up with a wealth of information. There’s even a Clean Hands Coalition!

Here’s what the Center for Disease Control and Prevention says about hand washing:

• Wet your hands with clean running water and apply soap. Use warm water if it is available.
• Rub hands together to make a lather and scrub all surfaces.
• Continue rubbing hands for 20 seconds. Need a timer? Imagine singing “Happy Birthday” twice through to a friend!
• Rinse hands well under running water
• Dry your hands using a paper towel or air dryer. If possible, use your paper towel to turn off the faucet

Join me in starting this trend in your house — everyone wash his hands for 20 seconds, several times a day.

Tags: cold prevention, flu season, hand washing, Health