Handsfree Dispenser

       When eating out whether it is in a fast food diner, or a fancy restaurant, keep in mind that germs are left behind by all the previous guests. The menu, especially is really handled.  The waiter and other guests have looked at that menu many times. You have to use it too to place your order. So after you return it to the server, use a hand sanitizer before you touch your glass, tableware , or napkin. If you decide to wash your hands in the public restroom remember these tips.  After your hands are washed, you need to get a paper towel the touchless way. If the dispenser is not automatic, use your wrist or back of the hand. Exit the restroom without handling the door opener, use your paper towel. Stay healthy and feel secure when you eat out.

     I recently flew to California.  While in the airports, I was pleased to see that the soap, faucet, and towel dispensers, as well as the flushers, were all automated.  When you combine that with the doorless, S-Curve entry/exit you can feel secure that you did not pick-up all the germs from prior users.

    The restrooms in restaurants and stores left me with other impressions.  Some had automated soap dispensers or sensor-operated towel dispensers but no hands free door openers. None of them supplied automatic fragrance dispensers. A fresh fragrance imparts a clean atmosphere.

    This is graduation time, so I have used school and college restrooms, and usually nothing is automated.  This would be a really important place to avoid cross-contamination since children and young people account for a lot of the spread of illness.

    When using public restroom facilities, school lavatories, or restrooms that are frequented by other people, one wants to feel safe and secure about avoiding germs.  Some of those germs can cause disease, serious at times. So let’s assume that automatic, touchless devices are available for the toilet flusher, soap dispenser, faucet, and towel dispenser. Handwashing is complete, so what now?  One must exit the restroom, preferably without having to touch the door handle.  This is possible with the patented Sanitary Door Opener which allows the door to be pulled open with the forearm. A great solution to the “sanitary exit”.

       The Swine Flu scare, which I fell for, reminds me of the Avian Flu scare back in 2006. Then the Congress was goaded into passing $7.1 billion dollars in order to prepare for the possible bird flu pandemic. The projected figure of 200,000 Americans dying hyped up the hysteria. One billion dollars of that money was spent on Tamiflu and its distribution. That doomsday never transpired. And now the World Health Organization wants to “save” billions of people by spending billions of American hard-earned tax dollars to develope a vaccine that they admit is a mystery to science, and also for Tamiflu
  Back in 2006, Dr. Joseph Mercola warned that the drug Tamiflu was worthless, and does not treat the avian flu. It can “possibly” decrease the amount of days that one is sick, but worse, it can actually contribute to the virus having more lethal mutations. Tamiflu is banned in Japan because it can actually kill people. Even the FDA, after a review of 600 cases of neuropsychiatric events reported by patients on Tamiflu, and 115 cases of neuropsychiatric events reported by patients on Relenza a drug in the same class as Tamiflu. has said that the Tamiflu label should include a warning about these behaviors. In some cases these behaviors have resulted in serious injuries in adult and pediatric patients including death. “The FDA staff said Relenza, a drug in the same class as Tamiflu, should have a warning label of “reports of hallucinations, delirium, and abnormal behavior” observed in some patients taking the drug. We all know how much politicians love Big Pharma. Need I say more?

I Love Sneezes

        Children especially need to be trained to sneeze or cough into the elbow, but adults are just as guilty of spraying the air or their hands  with their germs instead of aiming for the elbow.  The elbow, after all, does not touch things.  Hands touch things so when one contaminates the hands with a cough or sneeze one spreads those germs on everything that gets touched.  That is one important way that flus and colds are spread among the population. Touching the face, nose, or mouth with a germy hand is a sure way to get sick. Since children tend to forget about these matters, having hand wipes available in child care centers and schools can be preventive. Adults make it a reflex action to use the elbow and not the hands.

    We in the Dental profession have used disinfectant wipes for years now. They are very effective against harmful germs.  I recommend having them available in the home as well as schools, child care centers, assisted living facilities and all sorts of workplaces.

    This is especially true now that we are watching the course of the Swine Flu, HINI.  Simply using the disinfectant wipes can go a long way in preventing the illness.  Common germy areas are doorknobs, phones, cell phones,  keys, steering wheels, TV remotes, keyboards, shopping carts, and hands.  Wash the hands or use hand sanitizer but wipe the germs away on the other objects and wipe away the flu.

     The Swine Flu, HINI, has caused quite a stir with the public.  There is no need to panic. The CDC says that handwashing and hand sanitizers are important measures to take to prevent the spread of the disease. Eating pork that has been cooked to reach 160 degrees is safe to eat. Disinfecting objects is advised.  Staying home when displaying symptoms is greatly stressed. Unnecessary travel ought to be postponed.  One important way that the flu is transmitted is by respiratory means, whether it is by breathing the virus or by touching the nose with contaminated hands. This is where a face mask can be worn to protect against the sneezes and coughs of a sick person.  The N-95 mask is a respiratory device and is the recommended type to use.

The recent outbreak of Swine Flu in other countries and in the United States has mobilzed the CDC and World Health Organization into action against the disease.  The WHO has released 25% of its antiviral drugs and protective equipment to help in stopping the spread of Swine Flu.  The CDC has recommended frequent handwashing and the use of hand sanitizer before touching the mouth, eyes, or nose, before eating, and after touching things in public places. The CDC says cough and sneeze into disposable tissues, stay home when symptomatic, and keep your immune system strong.

I recommend using disinfectant wipes on everything that you touch. There are disposable paper sleeves for young children that fit over the elbow for sneezing and coughing. The best strategy is prevention because the Swine Flu can be deadly.

We hear a lot lately about the superbug MRSA which stands for methicillin-resistant Staphyloccus aureus. We probably have some on our skin where it does no harm to us.  It is when it makes its way into the body that we experience chills, fever, rashes, and pus-filled pimples or boils.  When this happens, call your doctor. Sometimes hospital treatment is neccesary.

The first priority is to avoid or prevent MRSA from causing an infection.  The places where we come in contact with this microbe are in hospitals, gyms, and shared facilities such as manicure salons.  Wash your hands or use a hand sanitizer when visiting in the hospital or even in the doctor’s office. When exercising come prepared with a couple of towels-one for the machines and another for the shower. Use your flip-flops in the shower.

If you get a scrape or cut on your skin, wash it until it is healed over.  People who have a compromised immune system or an illness are more apt to be vulnerable to MRSA.  These simple steps can make the difference.

      “Home Sweet Home”, “There’s No Place Like Home”, and “Home Is Where The heart Is”. Unfortunately we could also say, “Home Germy Home”, “There’s No Contamination Like Home”, and “Home Is Where The Germs Are”. Yes we all feel safe in our homes, and rightly so because we cannot see the microscopic world that lives at home with us, namely harmless and harmful microbes. We do not want to sterilize our surroundings, and in fact it would be impossible and undesirable to do so. We can however prevent illness by simply washing our hands and using disinfectant wipes  on objects that harbor disease causing germs.  The usual suspects  are door knobs, land phones, cell phones, keyboards, kitchen counters, bathroom counters, faucets, sinks, TV remotes, toys, and keys. They can easily be wiped clean by using disinfectant wipes. When family members are sick, it is necessary to take these measures more frequently so as to prevent spreading the illness to other family members. Oh, and remember your car it’s your home away from home. You are not a Germaphobe because you do these things, you are just aware, and want to prevent cross contamination.

       This morning I was shopping in a drugstore.  As I walked down one aisle, a clerk was stocking the shelves.  He sneezed while trying to say hello. I said, “Sorry, you must have a cold”.  He replyed, “Yes I do”. While shopping further, I heard 5 more sneezes.  Now you know he was sneezing into the air, literally spraying germs everywhere. Maybe he was even sneezing into his hands, the hands that were handling items to be put on shelves.  A person who comes along and picks up one of these items, is exposed to the cold or flu germs.

       A person who is sick should not come to work, but you know that is not reality. Kids give their colds and flus to each other and to the teacher, office workers contaminate their desks and computers, food handlers can be the cause of illness, bank tellers can spread more than wealth. and clerks like the one I encountered today just don’t have a clue when it comes to preventing cross-contamination.

     Washing one’s hands and drying them with a sanitary paper towel,  hand sanitizers, using disinfectant wipes, and sneezing into the elbow, taught as hygiene for kids and adults are several ways to keep those germs from infecting others.