Banishing Germs -- Lather Well and Count to 15

[okarol]

  Banishing Germs -- Lather Well and Count to 15
Released: 12/29/2009 10:45 AM EST
Source: Mayo Clinic

Newswise — Cleaning hands with either soap and water or alcohol-based hand sanitizers can effectively prevent the spread of bacterial or viral infections. The December issue of Mayo Clinic Health Letter offers information and tips to help ensure clean hands.

For killing germs on unsoiled hands, hand sanitizers are more effective than washing. The sanitizer gel should cover all surfaces of the hands, wrists, cuticles, fingernails and between the fingers and thumbs. Washing with soap and water is still important before eating, after using the bathroom and when hands are dirty. Consider these tips:

Work up lather: Using warm water and soap, lather the wrists, cuticles and areas between the fingers and thumbs. Hands should be covered in lather for at least 15 seconds.

Focus on the fingertips and areas around the fingernails: Thoroughly clean this often-neglected area when washing with soap or using hand sanitizers. Press the fingertips of one hand into the cupped palm of the other hand and rotate the fingertips in a circle. Repeat with the other hand.

Avoid the faucet: Once hands are clean, avoid touching the faucet. Hold a paper towel or use the tip of the wrist or an elbow to turn off the faucet.

Mayo Clinic Health Letter is an eight-page monthly newsletter of reliable, accurate and practical information on today’s health and medical news. To subscribe, please call 800-333-9037 (toll-free), extension 9771, or visit www.HealthLetter.MayoClinic.com.

http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/559934/?sc=rsmn

[jbeany]

And just to remind you why it's so important - a flu virus can live up to 17 days on a dollar bill.  Ewwwww!

[okarol]

And just to remind you why it's so important - a flu virus can live up to 17 days on a dollar bill.  Ewwwww!

YES - scary!
from: http://microbewiki.kenyon.edu/index.php/Surface_of_Currency
In 2001, research physicians Theodore W. Pope and Peter T. Ender of the Medical Center of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio performed an experiment on dollar bills to discover the extent of which organisms live on dollar bills. They collected 68 bills from people standing in line at a high school sporting event and at a grocery store. They then incubated the bills in a nutrient rich broth and collected any colonies that formed. They found that more than half of the bills harbored bacteria that infected people in hospitals and were dangerous to those with weak immune systems, including Klebsiella pneumonia and Staphylococcus aureus.

Researchers at the Regional Sophisticated Instrumentation Center (RSIC) at the North Eastern University in Shilong, India, who examined Indian banknotes, found germs which can cause diseases. They found that five of the 68 bills had types of bacteria that commonly cause infections in healthy persons, such as staphylococcus aureus and klebstella pneumoniae. 59 Bills were contaminated with types of bacteria that can cause significant infections in patients with depressed immune systems. These included organisms such as Coagulase-negative staphylococcus, Alpha hemolytic streptococcus and Escherichia vulneris.

[galvo]

Filthy Lucre!!

[billybags]

it is interesting and true about how germs spread. We went to a renal meeting about 2 months ago. We were first asked, (there were about 8 of us ) to wash our hands as normal, as if we were washing our hands to prepare food. We were then asked to dry our hands and put them under this machine and it was scary, the machine showed up blue on the hands where we had still got germs. We were then told to wash our hands for 2 minutes making sure we thoroughly washed every bit, wrists included. back to the machine and the out come was much better this time. Doing PD or CAPD at home we have to have a clock in the bathroom and time our selves on the hand washing.if nursey comes, and she does at least once a month to check the exchange procedure and your clock is not there, you get a smacked bottom.