A delicious mud pie, a good-luck rock, or a friendly frog are just a few of the presents kids love to bring home to Mom and Dad. But behind these adorable gifts, millions of germs could be lurking.
Kids don't always listen when you tell them to wash their hands before eating, but it's a message worth repeating. Hand washing is by far the best way to prevent germs from spreading and to keep your kids from getting sick.
The First Line of Defense Against Germs
Germs can be transmitted many ways, including:
* touching dirty hands
* changing dirty diapers
* through contaminated water and food
* through droplets released during a cough or a sneeze
* via contaminated surfaces
* through contact with a sick person's body fluids
When kids come into contact with germs, they can unknowingly become infected simply by touching their eyes, nose, or mouth. And once they're infected, it's usually just a matter of time before the whole family comes down with the same illness.
Good hand washing is the first line of defense against the spread of many illnesses, from the common cold to more serious illnesses such as meningitis, bronchiolitis, influenza, hepatitis A, and most types of infectious diarrhea.
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Washing Hands Correctly
Here's how to scrub those germs away. Demonstrate this routine to your kids — or better yet, wash your hands together often so they learn how important this good habit is:
1. Wash your hands in warm water. Make sure the water isn't too hot for little hands.
2. Use soap and lather up for about 20 seconds (antibacterial soap isn't necessary — any soap will do). Make sure you get in between the fingers and under the nails where uninvited germs like to hang out. And don't forget the wrists!
3. Rinse and dry well with a clean towel.
To minimize the germs passed around your family, make frequent hand washing a rule for everyone, especially:
* before eating and cooking
* after using the bathroom
* after cleaning around the house
* after touching animals, including family pets
* before and after visiting or taking care of any sick friends or relatives
* after blowing one's nose, coughing, or sneezing
* after being outside (playing, gardening, walking the dog, etc.)
Don't underestimate the power of hand washing! The few seconds you spend at the sink could save you trips to the doctor's office.
1. Fecal pathogens on fingertips - a major cause of foodborne illness
Fingertip washing is the only control with a zero defect potential
1. "When you are sick stay home" is an ineffective government control. People are not doctors who can diagnose their illness. There are other causes for feelings of sickness and diarrhea other than Salmonella typhi, E. coli O157:H7, Shigella spp., Hepatitis A, etc.
2. Pathogens are often shed before there are illness symptoms.
Viral Hepatitis Campylobacter jejuni Listeria monocytogenes
Salmonella typhi Escherichia coli Shigella spp.
Salmonella typhimurium
and other serotypes Cryptosporidium spp. Giardia lamblia
3. Pathogens are also shed after people feel well. People can be carriers.
Salmonella typhi Escherichia coli Listeria monocytogenes
Shigella spp. Vibrio cholera Salmonella typhimurium
and other serotypes
Giardia lamblia
4. When an employee is ill, the supervisor will be aware of it. It is the supervisor's responsibility to send the employee home.
Conclusion: "When you are sick, stay home" has a high probability of failure for preventing fecal pathogens getting into food and should not be used as a hazard control method.
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Explanation: This overhead points out that the government control stating that when an employee is sick, he or she should stay home, is ineffective and should not be in any food regulation as a control method. Fingertip washing provides for zero defects, as will be pointed out. The principle problem is that before people have any symptoms and know that they are ill with a pathogen, they are shedding pathogens in their fecal material. It is true that when they have vomiting and diarrhea, they shed higher levels. However, we have no idea how much leaks through toilet paper and gets onto fingertips, thus creating a hazard. In addition, after people feel well, they can, and do, become carriers of these pathogens. Again, they will have no symptoms, but if they do not wash their fingertips, they will cause illness. Finally, it has been my experience in talking to supervisors that when a person is ill, those supervisors are well aware of the situation. Therefore, the best strategy is simply to leave the problem to the restaurant owner to solve. People who have taken food safety classes know very well that a major cause of foodborne illness is fecal pathogens on the fingertips. It is up to them to choose the level of risk to which they will expose their customers.
2. Defenses of skin*
Site
Defenses
Function
Skin Dryness and acidic conditions (pH 5)
Sloughing cells
Resident bacteria
Limit bacterial growth
Remove bacteria
Compete for nutrients and colonization / attachment sites
Hair follicles, sweat glands Lysozyme, toxic lipids Kill bacteria
Sebum from sebaceous glands Protective film on surface of skin Prevents excessive dryness of skin
Beneath skin surface Skin associated lymphoid tissue (SALT) Kill bacteria; sample antigens on skin surface.
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