Scrubbing Away the Germs
Splash your way to germ-free hands and avoid colds this winter.
When the weather changes, the sounds of holiday caroling are often drowned out by sounds of hacking and sneezing. To avoid coughing through the winter, follow the doctor’s orders by washing your hands frequently.
This week is National Hand-washing Awareness Week, founded by Ohio doctor William P. Sawyer, who studies hand hygiene and respiratory awareness. He started the program in 1999, when a flu vaccine shortage in the Cincinnati area put a larger population at risk for the virus. Since then, Sawyer has founded the Henry the Hand Foundation, which uses a cartoon mascot to promote the four principles of hand-washing awareness in schools around the country. Those include washing your hands before eating, coughing and sneezing into the inside of your elbow, and avoiding putting your fingers in your eyes, nose, or mouth.
“If you consider that everything you touch,” says Denise Buckley, nursing director at the Student Health Services Infirmary, “doorknobs, utensils at self-serve restaurants, etc., has been touched by multiple people before you, it’s easy to see how these things spread.”
The Journal of the American College Health Association suggests washing with soap and warm water, long enough to sing the “Happy Birthday” song while you wash.
Further information about National Hand-washing Awareness Week and Henry the Hand is available at www.henrythehand.com.
Brian Sirman, a campus residence hall director, can be reached at bsirman@bu.edu.