Can’t Touch This!

In healthcare environments, for obvious reasons, hand hygiene is extremely important and must be practiced with absolute diligence. According to WHO, there are five situations that benefit from careful hand disinfection. These are: a. Before contact to patients b. Before aseptic tasks c. After contact with potentially infectious materials d. After contact to patients e. After touching the immediate patient environment

In current pandemic situation hand hygiene etiquette is particularly important when you’re out and about in public areas because you and anyone you come in — even minor — contact with are potentially vulnerable to passing on contagious diseases. When you’re on the go, make sure you: a. Sneeze and cough into your elbow b. Maintain a safe distance from potentially diseased people c. Wash your hands after you’ve used public transportation or use hand disinfection if there is no water available d. Wash your hands before meals e. Avoid touching your face with unwashed hands

There are a ton of opportunities for improved hygiene at the (home) office, too. Mobile communication devices can become reservoirs for transmitting germs because we are constantly touching them. Other risks of infection at work can be reduced by following these steps: a. Make sure to disinfect your devices regularly. Use low-alcohol, material-friendly tissues (e.g. Sterillium® Protect & Care Surface Tissues) on sensitive surfaces. b. Open the windows often and let in some fresh air. It’s good for your head, too! c. Wash your hands regularly — before meals, when you’ve been to the restroom, before and after meetings, etc. d. If you aren’t feeling well, stay home. e. Surfaces that are touched regularly by different persons should be disinfected. Also, don’t touch your phone all the time. Shouldn’t you be working?

Healthy hygiene also includes healthy information. Especially in times of COVID-19, you can find some pretty obscure theories on good hygiene circulating the internet. We’ve selected a few of the most out-there hand hygiene myths and we’re happy to counter them with evidence-based guidelines: a. Hot baths are nice if you want to relax, but not effective in preventing the transmission of diseases. b. Hand dryers alone are not effective in killing contagious viruses. To protect yourself, you should frequently clean your hands with an alcohol-based hand rub or wash them with soap and water, then dry them thoroughly. c. UV lamps should not be used to sterilize hands or other areas of skin as UV radiation can cause skin irritation. d. Spraying alcohol or chlorine all over your body will not kill viruses that have already entered your body. e. A dangerous question we’ve seen raised in chaotic times of genuine concern regarding the global spread of the coronavirus: are antibiotics effective in preventing and treating the new virus? No! Antibiotics are not effective against viruses. f. And finally, a particularly silly one: No, viruses cannot travel on radio waves or your mobile 5G networks.

Finally, what’s most important to consider when you’re practicing good hand hygiene: your community. Here’s what’s in it for everyone if we all take measures to practice good hand hygiene every day: a. Careful and active hand hygiene contributes to infection control in all circumstances. b. By practicing and teaching good hand hygiene, you are showing your community that you care. c. If you sing a song while you wash your hands, it’ll cheer you and maybe (we don’t know how well you sing) others up! d. Hand hygiene is a group performance.