Hand washing has been considered an obvious and a major element in control of infections. This simple approach is believed to be the best weapon to keep infections from spreading and causing hazardous diseases. Although kids are more prone to catch infections easily, the elderly and adults with a weakened immune system are also at the risk of contracting infectious illnesses. Therefore hand washing has become the primary weapon for each and every person to fight away infection causing germs.
There has been an intensifying growth in antibiotic resistant organisms called superbugs in the recent times and since proper hand washing forms a vital barrier in spreading of infections, it has been regarded as one of the important aspects of every person’s life. The good news is that, over the past few years, there has been a subsequent rise in the number of people who are regularly washing their hands. Its credit goes to the Global Hand washing Day (15th October) which is a campaign to motivate and raise awareness regarding the importance of hand washing with soap.
Hand washing can also be called the ‘do it yourself’ vaccine that helps in shielding against various germs that can cause:
- Stomach infections
- Gastroentitis
- The common cold
- Influenza
- Pneumonia
- Hepatitis A
When to wash your hands
- Whenever your hands are soiled after doing some work like gardening, playing etc.
- After you use the toilet or change diapers.
- Before and after touching raw meat, fish or poultry as well as while handling cooked or ready-to-eat food
- Before cooking your dinner.
- Before and after eating and drinking.
- After smoking.
- After blowing your nose in a tissue or handkerchief or sneezing in your hands.
- Before and after visiting or caring for sick people.
- After dealing with trash and garbage of your house.
- After handling pets or their waste.
and many more such situations…
Guidelines to wash your hands properly
Washing your hands with soap is important to kill infection causing germs, however, following this process in a proper manner is equally important. Here we have some specific guidelines for proper hand washing.
- Make use of warm water to wet your hands.
- Use antibacterial soap, preferably a liquid soap to form a generous amount of lather for around 10-15 seconds to make sure that the dirt accumulated in your hands is uplifted.
- Thoroughly rub your hands together across every surface such as the wrists, back of your hands and fingers to make sure every dirt particle is removed.
- Remove any jewelry and watches that you may be wearing before washing your hands to make sure that the dirt under them is removed.
- Remove all soap traces from the hands by rinsing it well under running water.
- Dry up your hands immediately after washing. For that you can use paper towels or your personal cloth towel.
