Infographic: 5 ways to prevent the flu

Do you know how to prevent the flu? Check out these 5 easy tips.



Text:

1. Get vaccinated

Getting vaccinated is the most important way you can protect yourself from the flu. When you get vaccinated, you’re much less likely to get sick.

2. Wash your hands often

Hand-washing is a great way to get rid of germs. Washing your hands with soap and water before and after eating, after coughing or sneezing and after using the bathroom can make a big difference when preventing flu. 

3. Stay away from people who are sick

Keeping your distance from others who have the flu can reduce your chance of getting sick. Flu viruses can spread through air and via surfaces, so stay away from people who are sick.

4. Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth with your hands

Touching surfaces that are contaminated with germs and then touching your eyes, nose or mouth can allow for the flu virus to enter your body.

5. Practice good hygiene

Clean surfaces and objects in your home, at work, at school and elsewhere to reduce the chances of spreading the flu.

Get Ready Mailbag: Get the facts on hand-washing

Welcome to another installment of the Get Ready Mailbag, when we take time to answer questions sent our way by readers like you. Have a question you want answered? Send an email to getready@apha.org.

Some senator said that restaurant employees shouldn’t have to wash their hands after using the bathroom. Isn’t that a bad idea?

Yes, definitely! Hand-washing is critical when preparing food, whether at home or at a restaurant.

Before we get into that, though, let’s talk about what that senator said. According to Talking Points Memo, Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said businesses should be able to opt out of rules like employee hand-washing, using Starbucks as an example: “I don’t have any problem with Starbucks if they choose to opt out of this policy as long as they post a sign that says ‘We don’t require our employees to wash their hands after leaving the restroom,’” the news site reported Tillis as saying Feb. 2. Tillis later backed down, telling The Hill that the statement was meant as a joke.

Historic 1930s era hand washing sign
CDC/ Minnesota Department of Health

But clean hands are no joking matter. Hand-washing helps prevent the spread of infection when preparing and serving food, according to the Food and Drug Administration. Food service workers who don’t wash their hands properly can make people sick. That’s why food workers are required by law to wash their hands, as you’ve probably noticed when you’ve seen those signs in restaurant bathrooms.

Hand-washing isn’t just important in restaurants, though. Everyone should follow these simple hand-washing steps before preparing food: Wet, lather, scrub, rinse and dry. Be sure to wash your hands for at least 20 seconds, or about as long as it takes to sing the “Happy Birthday” song twice.

Hand-washing is a great way to protect yourself from getting sick. It prevents the spread of infection to family, friends and your community. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention describes hand-washing as a “do-it-yourself” vaccine, because it’s the best way to prevent getting sick or spreading disease to others.

For more information and fact sheets to share on hand-washing, visit the Get Ready hand-washing page.

Healthy tips for healthy hands

It’s time to talk hand hygiene. What’s hand hygiene, you ask? Well, it refers to things you can do — like washing your hands and using hand sanitizer — to keep your hands clean and protect your health.

While hand-washing is important all the time, you should especially wash your hands more often during cold and flu season. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests other important times to wash your hands:

• Before, during and after you prepare food
• Before eating food
• Before and after caring for someone who is sick
• Before and after treating a cut or wound
• After using the toilet
• After changing diapers or cleaning up a child who has used the toilet
• After blowing your nose, coughing or sneezing
• After touching an animal or animal waste
• After handling pet food or pet treats
• After touching garbage

Some people should wash their hands more frequently. People who get sick more easily, such as seniors or people with weakened immune systems, should clean their hands more often. Children should, too. They like to get close to each other when they play, share toys and often put their hands and other objects in their mouths.

 

It’s important to teach kids to wash their hands and help make it fun. Choose a song your children like, time how long 20 seconds takes and let them sing the song for that amount of time while they wash their hands.

 

So, what is the right way to wash your hands?

• First, wet them with clean water.
• Apply and spread soap over all parts of your hands.
• Rub your soapy hands together for at least 20 seconds.
• Rinse and dry well.

If you can’t wash your hands with water, use a hand sanitizer that has at least 60 percent alcohol. Apply and spread the sanitizer to all parts of your hands and rub your hands together until they are dry.

Be sure to visit the Get Ready campaign’s hand-washing page for great information and materials on hand-washing. Everything on our website can be downloaded free.

The World Health Organization says that, globally, “simple hand-washing could save up to 1 million lives each year.” That’s a very serious number. However, the important thing to remember is that hand-washing is one of the most important things you can do to stay healthy.

 

Don’t get overwhelmed by the holiday hustle and bustle

The holidays: a time for food, family, gift giving…and lots and lots of people! Crowd safety isn’t just for summertime festivals, concerts and Fourth of July events. With increased travel, holiday parades and packed stores, being safe in crowds is just as important during the holiday season. Do you know what to do to keep yourself and others safe?

• Plan ahead: Whether it’s a black Friday sale or Thanksgiving Day parade, know what to expect before you head out. How many people might be there? Will you be indoors or outdoors? These key details will help you plan ahead.
• Check the weather: Winter weather can bring chilly temperatures, snow, rain and sleet. Wear clothing that will prepare you most for the weather. Maybe you’re standing in line until a store opens, or you’re attending a holiday parade that will be outdoors for hours. Be sure to consider how long you might be outside and bring supplies to stay prepared.
• Keep clean hands a priority: More people mean more chances to keep your hands from being clean. Stores and airports can host many germs that might lead to colds, flu or other infectious diseases. Wash your hands often and keep your hand sanitizer handy for when you can’t get to a sink. And for added disease protection, always get your seasonal flu shot!
• Know your exits and surroundings: Whether the event is indoors or outdoors, be sure to locate your nearest exits, the closest first-aid kit and where to go for help. You won’t want to wait for an emergency to take place before knowing how to get what you need.
• Have a plan: If you’re attending an event with others, have a plan for where to meet should you become separated or if an emergency occurs. Keep in mind that cellphones may not always work among large crowds, so decide on a meeting place ahead of time.

For more information about crowd safety, read our Get Ready big event fact sheet.

Global Hand-Washing Day works to prevent spread of disease

Today marks Global Hand-Washing Day, with events being held around the world. The observance spreads the message that regularly washing your hands with clean, running water and soap is an important step in keeping yourself from getting sick and spreading germs to others.

 

Hand-washing with soap is one of the easiest ways to prevent diarrhea, a leading cause of death for children worldwide, as well as acute respiratory infections such as pneumonia.

 

Remember, just because your hands don’t have any visible dirt on them doesn’t mean that they are clean. Here are some tips when it comes to hand-washing, courtesy of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:

• Wash your hands several times a day, particularly before eating and after using the bathroom.
• After wetting your hands with water and applying soap, rub your hands together. Make sure to clean the back of your hands, under your nails and between your fingers, and continue rubbing your hands for at least 20 seconds.
• When water and soap are unavailable, use a hand sanitizer with at least 60 percent alcohol.

Remember that hand sanitizers do not kill all types of germs, and should not replace routine hand-washing with soap.

 

For tips and tools to use at your events, check out our Get Ready hand-washing fact sheets, which are available in both English and Spanish.

EV-D68? What’s that? What you need to know about the enterovirus outbreak



Protect yourself from EV-D68 by
washing your hands properly.

You may have heard lately about an outbreak of respiratory illness that’s making kids in a few states sick. The bug that’s causing the illnesses is called enterovirus D68, or sometimes just EV-D68.

 

In Missouri and Illinois, hospitals are seeing more kids than usual with enterovirus D68-related illness. A few other states are looking into cases of severe respiratory illness that may also be linked to enterovirus D68.

 

So what is enterovirus? It’s a type of bug that lives in our bodies, yet can make us sick. There are more than 100 types of enteroviruses and they have different names so that researchers and health providers can tell them apart. Enterovirus infections are common in the summer and fall, though they can happen any time of year.

 

The main way someone catches enterovirus is by touching something that has the bug on it and then touching their nose, mouth or eyes. You can also catch it by coming in close contact with another person that has the bug.

 

These bugs are very common and most people who get infected don’t become sick. Some people who get sick feel like they have a common cold, with symptoms like fever, body aches, sneezing and a runny nose.

 

However, babies and people with weak immune systems, such as people with HIV or those receiving cancer treatments, are at high risk to get very sick from enterovirus. People with illnesses such as asthma may also get very sick.

 

There is no vaccine that can protect you from this bug, but you can take steps to reduce your chance of getting sick:

• Practice good hand hygiene: Wash your hands often. Be especially sure to wash your hands before you touch your face, after using the toilet and after changing diapers.
• Break out the hand sanitizer: If you are not able to wash your hands, use a hand sanitizer that has at least 60 percent alcohol and rub a good amount onto your hands. Remember that hand sanitizer is only for when soap and water are not available and does not take the place of hand-washing.
• Keep it clean: Clean and disinfect surfaces that are used a lot or that everyone touches, like door handles, light switches and tables.

If you or someone in your care has symptoms that cause you concern, especially a baby or someone whose immune system is not strong, it’s best to get them checked by your health care provider.

Does antibacterial soap keep us healthy?

CDC/ Amanda Mills

Antibacterial soaps and body washes kill the germs that could make us sick and protect our health. Or do they?

As it turns out, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued a word of caution about what to expect from these popular products. FDA says there’s no evidence that over-the-counter antibacterial soap products do a better job than washing with plain soap and water.

 

And the news doesn’t get much better. Not only do antibacterial soaps and body washes not offer the protections that many thought, here are some other things you should know:

• There’s a possibility that using antibacterial products may cause bad germs to become resistant to drugs designed to fight infection. This could create a problem where the germs are very hard to kill.
• Some of the chemicals, such as triclosan in antibacterial soaps and body washes, have been shown to have negative effects in studies on animals.
• Antibacterial soaps and body washes don’t kill viruses, which are the type of germs that cause colds and the flu.

So what should we do improve our hand hygiene? As it turns out, good old-fashioned soap and warm water along with a good scrub and rinse is your best bet! Just follow our tips in English or Spanish to get the job done right.

It’s National Hand-Washing Awareness Week — Do you know the right way to wash your hands?

Dec. 1-7 is National Hand-Washing Awareness Week 2013, so let’s talk about hand hygiene. What is hand hygiene? It’s a term we use to describe things you can do, such as hand-washing and using hand sanitizer, to improve the cleanliness of your hands and protect your health. Hand-washing is one of the most important ways you can prevent many infectious diseases, including colds and flu.

 

The World Health Organization states that “simple hand-washing could save up to 1 million lives each year” around the globe. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that you wash your hands:

• 

  Photo courtesy of CDC/Amanda Mills

  before, during and after preparing food;
• before eating food;
• before and after caring for someone who is sick;
• before and after treating a cut or wound;
• after using the toilet;
• after changing diapers or cleaning a child who has used the toilet;
• after blowing your nose, coughing or sneezing;
• after touching an animal or animal waste;
• after handling pet food or pet treats; and
• after touching garbage.

Also, it’s a good idea to wash your hands more often during cold and flu season. Have you thought about your hands when you take public transportation, when you go somewhere where there are a lot of people or when people at your work or school are sick?

 

Some people are more at risk for infections, such as seniors or people with immune system problems. It’s even more important that they wash their hands more regularly. Otherwise they can become very sick. And don’t forget kids! Children like to get close to each other when they play. Teach and remind children to wash their hands. Start teaching children hand-washing when they are young and make it fun.

 

The proper way to wash your hands is to wet them with clean water, then apply and spread soap over all parts of your hands. Rub your soapy hands together for at least 20 seconds (sing the “Happy Birthday” song twice in your head), rinse well and dry.

 

If you can’t wash your hands with water, use a hand sanitizer that has at least 60 percent alcohol. Apply and spread the sanitizer to all parts of your hands and rub your hands together until they are dry.

 

Be sure to visit the Get Ready campaign’s hand-washing page for great information and materials on hand-washing.

Global Hand-Washing Day works to prevent spread of disease: Events planned for Oct. 15

Today marks Global Hand-Washing Day and more than 200 million people will be involved in events around the world. The observance spreads the message that regularly washing your hands with clean, running water and soap is an important step in keeping yourself from getting sick and spreading germs to others.

Hand-washing with soap is one of the easiest ways to prevent diarrhea, a leading cause of death for children worldwide, as well as acute respiratory infections such as pneumonia.

In our newest podcast, APHA’s Get Ready Report team speaks with Alfonso Contreras, regional advisor for health promotion at the Pan American Health Organization, about the importance of proper hand-washing.

“We are talking about one of the most cost-effective procedures in public health,” Contreras says. “We don’t realize sometimes that some of the classic measures are still some of the best resources that we have in public health.”

Global Hand-Washing Day organizers are hoping to break a Guinness World Record of people demonstrating hand-washing at the same time on Oct. 15. The region of the Americas already holds the record, with more than 740,000 people taking part in 2011, but the goal this year is to have more than 1 million participants, Contreras said. Public health advocates are encouraged to take part, and planning tools are available from PAHO.

Remember, just because your hands don’t have any visible dirt on them doesn’t mean that they are clean. Here are some tips when it comes to hand-washing, courtesy of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:

• Wash your hands several times a day, particularly before eating and after using the bathroom.
• After wetting your hands with water and applying soap, rub your hands together. Make sure to clean the back of your hands, under your nails and between your fingers, and continue rubbing your hands for at least 20 seconds.
• When water and soap are unavailable, use a hand sanitizer with at least 60 percent alcohol. Remember that hand sanitizers do not kill all types of germs, and should not replace routine hand-washing with soap.

Listen to our podcast with Contreras or read the transcript for more information. And make plans to celebrate Global Hand-Washing Day on Oct. 15!

For tips and tools to use at your events, check out our Get Ready hand-washing fact sheets, which are available in both English and Spanish.