Keeping your hands clean is one of the most effective steps to avoid getting sick and spreading germs to others this winter. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has offered advice on the importance of and ways to correctly wash your hands. But, in light of all the information on prevention and the prevalence of H1N1 and seasonal flu this year, many, many people still do not wash their hands.
Dan Diekema, MD, infectious disease specialist at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, talks about the importance of hand washing.
It seems like such a simple thing to do—wash your hands. Why do people resist washing their hands?
I don't think people resist so much as they forget. Often they get too busy. Sometimes, especially during the winter months, hands can get dry and cracked and that can be a barrier to good hand washing. Finally, some people just don't believe that hand washing can help prevent infections.
What kind of bacteria or germs can be passed along to others when someone does not wash their hands?
The two main types are:
- Viruses that cause colds and flu and even pneumonia. There are many different viruses that are passed in the community, especially during the winter months.
- Bacteria that live in our throats, like strep, or on our skin and throat, like staph. These can also cause sinus infections, pneumonia, and those also can be passed from person to person.
Where do all the bacteria that make us sick come from?
A lot of the viruses are simply passed along from person to person. That's how they stay in circulation and how we get them from other people.
The bacteria, some of them we carry in our throat and in our GI tract and often times they don't cause disease, but then sometimes they do.
So how are germs passed along from that one person not washing their hands?
If you cough into your hands or you touch a surface that someone else has coughed on. That bacteria or virus can survive on your hands and then when you touch another person or shake hands or touch another surface, it can be transferred to another person's hands and then when they touch their nose or mouth—which we do much more frequently than we imagine—that virus or bacteria can cause an infection.
Who needs to wash their hands?
We all do.
When or how often should everyone wash their hands?
I think there are a lot of common sense times to do it:
- When you come home from work
- After you cough or blow your nose
- Before and after you prepare food or eat food
- After you use the toilet
- After you play with pets
Health care workers should wash their hands before and after contact with patients who are very vulnerable to infections.
Is there a hand-washing method everyone should follow?
Yes, when you're using soap and water, you should wet your hands with warm, running water, add soap (it doesn't have to be an antimicrobial soap). Make sure you rub your hands vigorously for 20 seconds. I think doing it long enough is a big issue for a lot of people. Make sure you cover the backs of your hands, your wrists, between your fingers, your thumbs, and under your fingernails. Then rinse off and dry with a paper towel or a clean cloth.
What if you are in an area where soap and water are not available? How safe is an antibacterial gel for hand cleaning?
Yes, those are highly effective. It's what we use—really rely on—in the hospital. Many of them also contain emollients that can help with skin health if you have to frequently clean your hands. They're available, as everyone knows, in grocery and drug stores. These are excellent alternatives if you can't find a sink for soap and water.
I should say that if your hands are visibly soiled, these alcohol-based products—those hand rubs—are not as effective. You really do need to use soap and water to rinse and clean visibly soiled hands.
Is there a preferred method for using a hand sanitizer?
You need to put about a nickel-sized dollop on your palm and then rub your hands together—getting both the front and the back, between your fingers, on top of your fingernails—to get good coverage. You rub your hands together until it's dry, and that's within 15 seconds, your hands are clean. |
