Handwashing: An Easy Way to Help You Stay Healthy

Oct. 15 is Global Handwashing Day

There is a simple, effective, inexpensive act that can make a huge difference in your health and that of your family—it’s washing your hands with soap and water. In honor of Global Handwashing Day, which is coming up on Oct. 15, I want to remind you of the difference good hand hygiene can make.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that studies show handwashing education in the community can:

• Reduce the number of people who get sick with diarrhea by about 23-40 percent.
• Reduce the number of school days children missed because of gastrointestinal illness by 29-57 percent.
• Reduce diarrheal illness in people with weakened immune systems by about 58 percent.
• Reduce respiratory illnesses, like colds, in the general population by about 16-21 percent.

With the official start of flu season, which typically spans the fall and winter months, washing our hands is key (along with getting the flu vaccine) to staying as healthy as possible.

I realize that the act of handwashing may be obvious, but I like to share the proper, five-step method to ensure you have clean hands:

1. Wet your hands with clean, running water and apply soap.
2. Rub your hands together to make a lather. Scrub the backs of your hands, between your fingers and under your nails.
3. Scrub for at least 20 seconds.
4. Rinse your hands well under running water.
5. Dry your hands with a clean towel and use the towel to turn off the faucet.

Following this method is necessary after using the bathroom; before, during and after preparing food; before eating; before and after caring for someone who is sick with vomiting and diarrhea; after touching garbage and after blowing your nose, coughing or sneezing. You should also always scrub your hands before and after treating a cut or wound and after touching animals, including their food or waste.

Germs are everywhere and can transfer from doorknobs, tables, grocery carts, toys and other objects throughout the day, so that is where alcohol-based hand sanitizers (with at least 60 percent alcohol) come in very handy. Unless your hands are visibly soiled, you can use hand sanitizer by following these steps:

1. Apply the sanitizer to the palm of your hand.
2. Rub your hands together.
3. Rub the sanitizer over all surfaces of your hands and fingers and continue rubbing until your hands are dry.

Share this information with your family, especially any children so they can do their part in keeping themselves, their friends and the family safe and healthy.

Remember, too, if you are sick, you should stay home so as not to spread germs to others. If you need medical attention, Lee Health is here to help, providing you with the care you need and in ways that are most convenient for you, including in-person and virtual care options. Visit www.LeeHealth.org/get-care to find the right place to get the care you need.