Hygiene and Sickness Prevention

Hygiene and Sickness Prevention

♪♫ Tis the season to be … healthy ♪♫

Everything you need to know about hygiene.

Colds, flu and other respiratory illnesses are more common in colder months as the cold weakens resistance and increases susceptibility to sicknesses. People are indoors more often, and this means that viruses pass more easily from one person to another. The most effective way to stop the spread of germs is HYGIENE because it contributes to disease prevention and control, especially in high-risk populations and settings like healthcare facilities and workplaces (UNICEF, 2023).

Let’s deep dive into some of the hygiene principles, facts, and prevention methods.

1. What are germs, and where can we find them?

The term "germs" refers to the microscopic bacteria, viruses, fungi, and protozoa that can cause disease.

Germs can spread by:

• Coughing, sneezing, or talking,
• Touching your face with unwashed hands after touching contaminated surfaces or objects,
• Touching surfaces or objects that other people may frequently touch.
  • Germs are mostly found in bathrooms and kitchens but can also be found on items we use every day, such as doorknobs, doors, tables, pets, and, most importantly, our mobile phones!

Washing hands well and often with soap is the best way to prevent germs from spreading infections and sickness.

2. Why is hand hygiene so crucial?

It is essential that everyone adhere strictly to hand hygiene procedures as it significantly reduces the risk of cross-transmission of infections, as well as preventing a multitude of diseases, which could also assist in avoiding life disruptions and financial costs resulting from sickness.

Various hygiene behaviours are considered important for maintaining health, but hand washing with soap is a top priority in all settings. While applying hand sanitizer may be easier (even products with the sufficient alcohol content) it is shown not to remove all types of bacteria and viruses. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (2024), washing hands for a minimum of 20 seconds with soap and water are far more effective at removing common illness-causing germs.  

Cleaning hands can save lives and reduce illness by helping prevent the spread of infectious diseases. These diseases can be caused by pathogens (germs), as mentioned above, that are transmitted through the air or via surfaces, food, soil, or human faeces. People frequently touch their face, food and surfaces with their hands, which means that our hands act as transmitters for germs that play a significant role in spreading disease. It is estimated that 1.4 million people, including nearly 400,000 children under five, die each year from preventable diseases attributable to inadequate hand washing procedures leading to diarrhoea or other acute respiratory infections (ARIs).

3. How to wash your hands effectively?

A study by Alonso et al. (2013) found that individuals often touch their faces at a rate of 3.3 and 3.6 times per hour. Therefore, washing hands between 5-10 times per day or even more frequently (>10 times per day) can reduce the risk of disease infection (Xun et al., 2021).

Hand hygiene is required:

• Before and after preparing food/drinks or raw meals,
• Immediately after using the toilet,
• Immediately after smoking, coughing, sneezing, using a handkerchief or disposable tissue as these often spread more germs,
• After playing with pets,
• After touching the hair, scalp or body opening.

When washing hands, we often try to sing the Happy Birthday song. This lets us know that we have washed our hands for the right amount of time (20 seconds) to get rid of most germs on our hands. Creating your own visuals or posters using pictures to put up in bathrooms is also an effective way to ensure you clean your hands thoroughly.

How to wash your hands:

1. Wet your hands with water,
2. Apply enough soap to cover your hands,
3. Rub your hands together,
4. Use one hand to rub the back of the other hand and clean in between the fingers. Do the same with the other hand,
5. Rub your hands together and clean in between your fingers,
6. Grip the fingers of each hand together with the backs of your fingers against the palms of your other hand. Rub your fingertips together and rub the back of your fingers against your palms.
7. Rub one thumb using your other hand. Do the same with the other thumb. This is important because most people forget to wash their thumbs!
8. Rub the tips of your fingers on the palm of your other hand. Do the same with the other hand.
9. Rinse your hands with water.
10. Dry your hands thoroughly with a disposable towel.
11. Use the disposable towel to turn off the tap.

For further information, here is a fun video to help with explaining and educating our young clients on hygiene:

Learn how to wash your hands here

4. What is vampire coughing?

If you sneeze or cough into your hands (and then fail to wash your hands straight away), you'll only be spreading colds and flu germs on everything you touch.

So, what is the better option? It’s simple: use your sleeve! Cover your nose and mouth with the material near your elbow and do the vampire sneeze/cough. Vampire coughing earns its name from the very old movies with classical depictions of vampires.

This is supported by infection experts who support using your arm instead. They suggest coughing and sneezing, and they suggest the best way is to use the crook of your arm or inner elbow to prevent the spread of germs. Doing so helps prevent the spread of bacteria via your hands and lessens the risk of you infecting others with your cold/flu.

5. Interesting facts everyone should know:

Did you know that a sneeze has a maximum velocity of 16.2 km/h, which can travel up to around 4 metres? Can you imagine how this can impact us if we don’t cover our coughs or sneezes? Simply breathing also has a maximum velocity of 4.68 km/h, travelling about 1.8 metres (Tang et al., 2013). This explains why staying 1.5 metres apart during the COVID-19 pandemic was shown to be effective!

In a study outlined by Wang et al. (2020), coughing produces respiratory droplets, with tiny droplets moving through space for more than 2 meters. This is potentially why so many people are getting sick around the autumn and winter seasons when they are more likely to be inside.

Our bodies have a built-in “spy” (immune system) to detect “bad guys” (viruses and bacteria) from entering our body. These spies try to eliminate perceived threats from making us sick by raising our body temperatures. This is when our immune system stops the virus or bacteria from growing. Our immune system begins by telling the brain that we need to raise the thermostat to a higher body temperature. Once the higher temperature is set, your body starts to fight against the illness.

It is incredibly easy to help stop the spread of germs by:

• Covering your mouth and nose with a tissue or the inner crook of your arm when you cough or sneeze
• Throw used tissues in the trash and keep clothing clean
• Perform proper hand hygiene
• Stay away from others when you are sick and remain home

Washing your hands is one of the most effective ways to prevent yourself and your loved ones from getting sick, especially at key times when you are likely to get and spread germs.

Special considerations when visiting our clinics:

1. If possible, only brining one child to the clinic, as much as we love having a whole family approach, more bodies in the clinic increases the chances of sickness spreading.
2. Enjoy your food and snacks in the fresh air and sunshine outside.
3. Avoid attending the clinic if you have been sick or another family member who lives in your home has been ill.
4. Frequently clean and disinfect hands to minimise the spread of sickness to protect both our lovely staff and you.

• Hand sanitiser is available in clinics.
• Restrooms should have water and soap and posters with the correct hand-washing steps and techniques. Try out our Eco Springwood toilet taps!

Let’s work together to be germ-smart and to stay healthy in the coming months!

References:

Tang, J., Nicolle, A., Klettner, C., Pantelic, J., Wang, L., Suhaimi, A., Tan, A., Ong, G., Su, R., Sekhar, C., Cheong, D., & Tham, K. (2013). Airflow Dynamics of Human Jets: Sneezing and Breathing - Potential Sources of Infectious Aerosols. PLoS ONE, 8. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0059970

Wang, H., Li, Z., Zhang, X., Zhu, L., Liu, Y., & Wang, S. (2020). The motion of respiratory droplets produced by coughing. Physics of Fluids, 32. https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0033849.

Pandolfi, F., Franza, L., Todi, L., Carusi, V., Centrone, M., Buonomo, A., Chini, R., Newton, E., Schiavino, D., & Nucera, E. (2019). The Importance of Complying with Vaccination Protocols in Developed Countries: "Anti-Vax" Hysteria and the Spread of Severe Preventable Diseases. Current medicinal chemistry, 25 42, 6070-6081. https://doi.org/10.2174/0929867325666180518072730.

Bragazzi, N., Gianfredi, V., Villarini, M., Rosselli, R., Nasr, A., Hussein, A., Martini, M., & Behzadifar, M. (2018). Vaccines Meet Big Data: State-of-the-Art and Future Prospects. From the Classical 3Is (“Isolate–Inactivate–Inject”) Vaccinology 1.0 to Vaccinology 3.0, Vaccinomics, and Beyond: A Historical Overview. Frontiers in Public Health, 6. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2018.00062.

Alonso, W., Nascimento, F., Shapiro, J., & Schuck-Paim, C. (2013). Facing ubiquitous viruses: when hand washing is not enough. Clinical infectious diseases: an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, 56 4, 617. https://doi.org/10.1093/cid/cis961.

Xun, Y., Shi, Q., Yang, N., Yang, N., Li, Y., Si, W., Shi, Q., Wang, Z., Liu, X., Yu, X., Zhou, Q., Yang, M., & Chen, Y. (2021). Associations of hand washing frequency with the incidence of illness: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Annals of Translational Medicine, 9. https://doi.org/10.21037/atm-20-6005.

UNICEF (2023, July). Hygiene. UNICEF Data. https://data.unicef.org/topic/water-and-sanitation/hygiene/

Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (2024, April 26). Water, Sanitation, and Environmentally Related Hygiene (WASH): Healthy Habits: Coughing and Sneezing. CDC. https://rb.gy/n6hq1y