Minimizing Back-to-School Bugs
Having a sick child at home isn’t fun for anyone. With that in mind, and school in full swing, it’s a great time to remember that it is easier to prevent illness than it is to treat illness.
Upgrade Personal Hygiene for Big Payoff
Classrooms are an environment of hygienically challenged young people sharing pencils, snacks, and sometimes cell phones. A modest upgrade in personal hygiene can really pay off. Without question, simple hand washing can dramatically reduce your child’s exposure to viruses and illness. There is no other singular behavior that is as proven to reduce the likelihood of illness.
This is the Way We Wash our Hands
A soap-free rinse just won’t do the trick. Soaping up quickly isn’t the way to go either. Consider that Housekeepingchannel.com published a sobering article that gives Americans a “C” for their poor hand washing skills. A thorough 20 second hand washing with plain soap and water removes 99.9% of most bacteria and illness causing viruses.
Quick Tip
For a healthier and more hygienic school year, follow these tips for hand washing taken from the CDC Clean Hands Campaign
- Wet your hands with clean running water and apply soap. Use warm water if it is available.
- Rub hands together to make a lather and scrub all surfaces.
- Continue rubbing hands for 20 seconds.
- Rinse hands well under running water
- Dry your hands using a paper towel or air dryer. If possible, use your paper towel to turn off the sink.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 29th, 2006 at 9:22 am and is filed under Clean Kids. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
