ABC's of Hygiene

Our office was just informed that a couple of employees have been diagnosed with H1N1 virus (aka swine flu). I suppose it was only a matter of time. Many areas of the country are turning up cases of this dreaded illness. A vaccine for the virus is being distributed but will it perform as expected? We all hope it does, but what can we do to take further precautions?

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), hand washing is the single, best way to prevent the spread of infection and illness. Historically, this sanitary act was slow to be adopted. Even after it was proven to substantially prevent deaths from infection, hand hygiene continued to be absent. As physicians and students moved from the anatomy lab to the hospital wards they carried with them the harmful bacteria.

When I was a little girl I learned to always wash my hands before eating. I didn’t realize at the time it was to help prevent me from getting sick. I just thought my hands were always dirty. I also learned if I didn’t get my hands clean the first time, I had to do it over. As a student in medical school I was also reminded to wash my hands between patients. It was particularly important to let the patient see you wash your hands in front of them, to at least instill confidence in my hygiene if nothing else. But did I really know what I was doing with hand washing…well, sort of.

With so much concern about the H1N1 virus right now, it’s appropriate to spend some time on this very simple task. The important aspect of hand washing seems to be the time spent. The suggested time is 15-20 seconds which doesn’t seem like much until you try it. One of my colleagues sings the “alphabet song,” about 20 seconds, when washing her hands. At the CDC website you can find a step by step guide on the “right way” to wash your hands http://www.cdc.gov/Features/HandWashing/. There’s even a video!

-Sherry LaBeck ND