Are Your Hands Clean Enough?

The recent staph infection scare hits pretty close to home for me because this happened to our family. A few years ago, one of my cousin’s very healthy children was admitted to the hospital for a routine procedure, had his surgery on Thursday, and three days later he was dead from the staph infection he had picked up in the hospital. So I guess it’s understandable that the recent news stories about staph infections concern me. Health officials say the average person has up to ten million bacteria on each hand at any given time and advise hand washing as one of the best means of protecting against staph and other bacteria. They also say that people are not washing their hands as often or as well as they should.

Here’s some advice from the Mayo Clinic:

You can help your children avoid getting sick by insisting that they wash their hands properly and frequently. To get kids into the habit, teach by example. Wash your hands with your children and supervise their hand washing. Place hand-washing reminders at children’s eye level, such as a chart by the bathroom sink for children to mark every time they wash their hands. Make sure the sink is low enough for children to use, or that it has a stool underneath so that children can reach it. 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, who may rush when washing their hands.

The alcohol-based hand sanitizers do a good job of killing bacteria too but shouldn’t be used as an alternative to soap and water if hands are visibly dirty. Again, advice from the Mayo Clinic:

To use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer:

  • Apply about 1/2 teaspoon of the product to the palm of your hand.
  • Rub your hands together, covering all surfaces of your hands, until they’re dry.

I think I’ll stick with soap and water.

Written by Shirley | Filed Under Household Hints & General Information

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Comments

Comment by GardenMomma:

I came across your blog through GTS. I was interested in this post, as I’m a nurse and so many people are asking me about it right now. Another thing to think about would be taking disinfecting cloths along when you go to the store. Shopping carts are a great place to pick up bugs. Some stores around us actually supply them at the door.
If you have the time, come visit ThroughMyGardenGate sometime. Have a great week! Chris

Comment by yellowbird2525:

Please do NOT wash hands with or use antibacterial soaps! even dishwashing soaps! they cause you to become immune to antibiotics! and stay in the water & land for hundreds of years! (toxic); a cheaper, & far more effective way is to clean hands with 3% hydrogen peroxide which not only kills bacterias but VIRUSES as well! yep, that little 50 cent bottle is FAR MORE EFFECTIVE & actually stronger than clorox bleach when used with vinegar folks; both have great properties in themselves but a combo of the 2 is 10 x’s stronger than each used seperately; stronger & more effective than clorine bleach. Safe for environment & humans & animals; another great find is that MRSA which everyone has been hearing about is killed by rubbing alcohol. Extremely cheap; that is why no one is telling you about it! More money to be made when ill than in preventing it!

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