National Handwashing Awareness Week is recognized the first full week of December each year. Personal hygiene begins and ends with our hands. And though we’re taught as youngsters to wash our hands before dinner, it’s important to remember that germs don’t care what time of day it is. Clean hands prevent sickness. So it’s especially important to learn the basics about hand hygiene so that you, too, can become a champion hand washer!
Below are National Today’s “handy” tips and info in honor of National Handwashing Awareness Week, to keep you healthy all year-round:
Do It Right
Experts recommend washing your hands with soap and clean water for at least 20 seconds. Be sure to get a good lather going and clean the back of the hands, between the fingers and under the nails. Dry them using a clean towel. There is a lot of science behind these recommendations, so be sure to follow them each time you wash your hands.
Memorize the Five Steps for a “Do-It-Yourself Vaccine”
Using antibiotics creates antibiotic resistance. prevents many sicknesses, so people need less antibiotics. Therefore, less antibiotic resistance. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) calls hand washing “a do-it-yourself vaccine” and suggests remembering five easy steps: Wet, lather, scrub, rinse, dry.
Learn the Four Principles of Hand Awareness
Endorsed by the American Medical Association and American Academy of Family Physicians, the four principles are: 1) Wash your hands when they are dirty and before eating; 2) Do not cough into hands; 3) Do not sneeze into hands; and 4) Don’t put your fingers in your eyes, nose or mouth.
Think About It
Think about how many different things you touch during the course of an average day. Now imagine how many of those things were touched by other people’s hands. The CDC also reports that only 31 percent of men and 65 percent of women washed their hands after using a public restroom. Gross, right?
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, handwashing can prevent 1 in 3 diarrhea-related illnesses and 1 in 5 infections, including the flu. Washing your hands prevents the spread of dangerous microbes and germs, both to yourself and others!
Healthy hands are happy hands, and happy hands make for happy and healthy homes!
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