Handsfree Dispenser

      The media is covering the Swine flu, HINI, issuing reports and alerts. That’s fine.  We need to be reminded about the  1.7 million cases of “nosocomial” or hospital-caught infections of MRSA, methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus.  The Center for Disease Control estimates that there are 100,000 deaths annually due to MRSA infections. That is double the number of people killed in the Vietnam War.

       The CDC also figures that 2.3 million Americans carry the bacteria in their noses without symptoms. Once contracted, there is little that doctors can do with antibiotics or emergency oxygen.  It starts out with a stuffy nose, cough, and mild fever. The frightening factor is that even healthy, young people can succumb to it in 72 hours and die.  And now community acquired MRSA is showing up in gyms, prisons and other places.

        Hands that are contaminated, sneezes, and coughs spread the disease that is why we are getting advice through the media on how to prevent  MRSA.  Wash your hands before eating, and after touching public objects like money, shopping carts, and doors. Keep hand sanitizer handy.Sneeze and cough into your elbow instead of your hand.  When visiting your gym, be aware of germs and wash your hands and shower. Hospital caregivers and visitors must be reminded to wash their hands or use sanitizer.  A great invention are hands free door openers, especially for public restrooms. After you have washed your hands, you don’t want to handle a door.

      By now, we probably all have heard about the supebug MRSA, methicillin resistant staphlococcus aureus. It is prevalent in hospitals but has also invaded public gyms and other places where a break in the skin can be a source of infection.                                                                       

     Another less well known superbug is Clostriium difficile, popularly called C-Diff.  It is the mother of all diarrheas, a gut-wrenching, non-stop variety, accompanied by pain and fever.  Ironically C-Diff also lurks in a hospital setting  where the immune system compromised and elderly people are the most vulnerable.  Jails and prisoners have also reported cases.  The Center for Disease Control estimates that this microbe has attacked at least 225,000 hospital visitors in recent moths.

    It is thought that the overuse of antibiotics created C-Diff by eliminating the helpful bacteria in the intestine. Even harsher antibiotics are used to combat the illness.  At times those infected can have recurrences.

     Hospital patients, caregivers, visitors, and all maintenance personnel must wash their hands upon entering a patient’s room and also when leaving in case of cross-contamination.  The CDC says that handwashing can prevent illness. Hand sanitizer is also useful. Most importantly always wash or sanitize your hands before eating.

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.

      “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.

     When workers have to stay home because of illness, it costs the employer money. When workers who are ill come to work anyway, they spread the germs that caused them to be sick. They touch doorknobs or handles, pens and pencils, phones, keyboards, and armrests.  If they sneeze or cough into their hands and droplets reach desktops, the workplace area is contaminated. Keyboards especially have been shown to harbor more bacteria than a toilet seat.    This ought to be enough reason to motivate management to do the following:

    Mount a hand sanitizer dispenser in a convenient location for workers.

    Provide disinfectant wipes that can be used to clean surfaces like phones etc.

    Switch to keyboards that can be disinfected and washed. Wise investment

    Automatic devices like towel dispensers improve restroom hygiene

    Hands free restroom door openers are the last link to keeping germs away

                                                  STAY HEALTHY

     As we go about our daily business we are unaware of the millions of germs we are in contact with.  Many of them are harmless, but on the other hand some of these organisms can cause illness.  It is impossible to avoid them all.  The best we can do is to wipe objects with a disinfectant wipe where it is possible, and to wash our hands after being in public, before touching someone, and before touching food. You don’t have to be a germaphobe to be safe.

     This is a ( incomplete) list of common germ carriers:    

     Purses, gym bags, diaper bags, credit and ATM cards, keys, cell phones, shopping carts, steering wheels, keyboards and a mouse, door knobs and light switches. The list could go on but these are the most frequent sources of germs. Travelling and staying in hospitals are a different story . DON’T FORGET TO WASH YOUR HANDS!                                  

Wash Your Hands

Bacteria are microorganisms that exist on just about every surface on Earth.  They are single celled and are usually about a couple micrometers long.  The shape of bacteria differs greatly from one another from rods to spheres.  Bacteria are here to stay.  They have been present since the beginning of life on this planet, and they have evolved to function well in this climate we have now.

Some people don’t know this because we try to get rid of as much of the bacteria as possible that is around us, but there are two times more bacteria cells on the human body than our own cells.  Most of these are beneficial to our various physical functions.  The bacteria that is most harmful to the body affect the respiratory system and cause illnesses like tuberculosis, which kill 2 million people a year.  Disinfectant towelettes, help people to ease the spread of outside bacteria on their person.