Student Wellness Tip of the Week: Keep Your Germs to Yourself!

10/11/11

Did you know frequent hand washing is the most effective way to prevent sickness and the spread of infection? Ithaca Campus may appear to be clean, but with every door knob turned, toilet flushed, pen borrowed, and contact with a person, YOU are contacting unwanted germs. Here are some helpful tips to make sure you are washing your hands enough...

Always Wash Your Hands Before:

• Preparing food
• Eating
• Attending to wounds
• Giving/taking medicine
• Touching a sick or injured person
• Putting in or taking out contact lenses

Always Wash Your Hands After:

• Preparing food, especially raw meat or poultry
• Using the bathroom
• Blowing your nose
• Coughing/ sneezing into your hands (sneeze/cough into elbow to avoid infection of hands)
• Touching animals or animal toys, leashes or waste
• Bandaging wounds or touching a sick or injured person
• Touching garbage or anything that looks dirty

When washing hands with soap and water:

• Wet your hands with clean water (warm if available) and apply soap
• Vigorously rub hands together to make a lather for 15-20 seconds- about the time to sing "Happy Birthday" twice
• Scrub all surfaces, don’t forget the back of your hands, wrists, in-between fingers, and under fingernails.
• Rinse hands well
• Dry hands using a paper towel/ air dryer

Always use a paper towel to turn off the faucet and open bathroom door to avoid re- contaminating your clean hands.

*Remember, do NOT attend classes/work if you are feeling sick to avoid the transmission of unwanted germs to others. Make an appointment at Hammond Health Center on campus if needed.

Submitted by Maria Behrens '12 for the Center for Health Promotion.

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