Hand washing is something that most of us do without a second thought. According to experts if this simple practice was adopted by more people, It could save over 650,000 lives a year.
Such hygienic hand care can reduce the spread as many large diseases and infections like SARS, AIDs, cholera and pandemic flu. Hand washing and using soap is the best way of reducing the spread of disease.
In addition, remember to practice hand hygiene at key moments since this time of the year has a higher percentage of illnesses being spread. This will help you to reduce the risk of becoming ill. These key moments are:
- Before and after preparing food
- Before eating
- Before and after caring for someone that is sick or around someone who is ill
- After using the bathroom
- After sneezing or coughing
- After touching anything that is in a high traffic area that may have been touched by many different hands, such as the shopping trolley handle, counter-tops, handles, a phone or a handrail.
We have between 2 and 10 million bacteria between fingertip and elbow, Damp hands spread 1,000 times more germs than dry hands.
The number of germs on your fingertips doubles after you use the toilet, Germs can stay alive on hands for up to three hours.
Millions of germs hide under watches and bracelets and there could be as many germs under your ring as there are people in Europe.