Tag Archives: hygiene

Flu, Hand Hygiene, Handwashing Saves Lives, Infection prevention

Can the holidays make you sick?

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What makes us get sick more often during the holiday season?

Many theories have been postulated and studied over the years and many factors are blamed for being virus enablers. Closer proximity of hosts (us) within closed spaces makes transmission easier due to the shared air we breathe while indoors and the common surfaces we touch as people share confined areas. Further, foods are presented and ingested in areas with higher germ populations due to the foregoing.

Other theories suggest that inactivity and depression generally increases with the cold and gloomy weather and this coupled with decreased exposure to the sun may tend to inhibit our immune systems.

We suspect that all of these factors and more contribute to the seasonal spike in illnesses. But, there are some commons sense actions that can help reduce your chances of being the next holiday (infection) host. The most effective way to reduce your risks of seasonal sickness is to wash your hands often, especially after shaking hands, touching surfaces in common areas such as handrails and countertops and especially before eating.

In the spirit of holiday cheer (and microbial fear) check out these funny new flu and handwashing posters meant to remind with mirth and good cheer.

Healthy holidays to all.


New Flu & Handwashing Posters

 

Image of flu close up by cdc.gov.

Handwashing Saves Lives, Infection prevention

Handwashing and Food Safety at the Ballpark

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Late summer and early fall are great times to go to a ball game. If you’re planning a trip to the ballpark, you may want to do some research before you decide to grab a bite to eat during the game.

Taste preferences aside, the main issue seems to be food handling within sports venues. UCLA Professor and board member of the Academy of Food Law & Policy Michael Roberts says, “The real risk, it seems to me at the ballpark, is the handling of food. That’s where you’ve got handlers cooking the food, handing it out, managing refrigeration and heating.” Roberts indicates local level authorities– county inspectors, for instance– are key to ensuring quality and safety measures are followed by those handling the food.

 

Measures are in place, of course, such as the requirement in every state for foodservice workers to wash their hands after using a restroom. However, a fire-safety law requiring doors to open inward rather than outward often results in recontamination when those who have just washed their hands have to pull a door handle to exit the restroom. With more businesses moving away from disposable paper towels (which could be used to open the door), extra precautions should be taken before the workers handle food after using the restroom. One common sense move is to ensure hands are washed in the food-handling area, even if hands were recently washed in the restroom, before handling food.

 

If baseball is your thing, Sports Illustrated has created a list of 2017 MLB Ballpark Food Safety Rankings.

 

Whatever your favorite sports event happens to be, if you get food to eat at the ballpark, be sure to wash YOUR hands before you eat!

 

To help your local foodhandlers brush up on proper, effective hand washing techniques, we recommend Brevis Glitterbug products, including GlitterBug Potion Disclosing Lotion, GlitterBug Hand and Nail Scrub Brush, and the GlitterBug Handwash Instruction Manual.

 

 

Sources:

http://reason.com/archives/2017/08/19/why-handwashing-is-key-to-ballpark-food

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28221948

https://www.fda.gov/food/guidanceregulation/retailfoodprotection/foodcode/

https://www.fda.gov/downloads/Food/GuidanceRegulation/RetailFoodProtection/FoodCode/UCM374510.pdf

https://www.si.com/eats/2017/08/08/mlb-food-safety-ballpark-rankings

https://www.brevis.com/search?q=glitterbug

https://www.brevis.com/products/467162/gbpotion-glitterbug-disclosing-lotion-8ounce-pumpbottle?ref=/search

https://www.brevis.com/products/771490/gbbrush-glitterbug-hand-and-nail-scrub-brush?ref=/search

https://www.brevis.com/products/220150/gbmanual-glitterbug-handwash-instruction-manual?ref=/search

https://static.pexels.com/photos/89699/pexels-photo-89699.jpeg

Science around the world

Clean Hands, Clean Slate

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We know the benefits handwashing has when it comes to protecting us from disease. But can cleaning our hands be connected with cleaning our minds?

 

Two researchers from the University of Toronto conducted four experiments and found a connection with cleaning one’s hands and a shift in goal pursuit.

 

Ping Dong, one of the researchers, explains, “People have multiple goals to pursue in their life and sometimes some of the goals may be fruitless. But people often feel it’s hard to give up old goals and pick up new goals so maybe physical cleansing can help people shift their goal pursuits effectively.” In other words, when people have a nagging goal they feel they just can’t let go, the best way to wash their hands of the problem may just be . . . washing their hands.

 

In the study, groups of undergraduate students were primed to bring their attention to particular goals; those groups were divided into two categories, one of which used a hand wipe. Those who used the hand wipe were found to find more importance in any goals primed following the hand cleansing process, as opposed to the goals brought up before the cleansing.

 

The mental process here illustrates that physical cleansing functions in a realm of psychological separation. Simone Schnall of Cambridge University says, “It’s important in the sense that it shows that physical cleansing can serve as a ‘psychological reset button,’ as it were, that operates on a very general level.”

 

The next time you wash your hands, take note of how it changes your frame of mind, and maybe even your to-do list.

 

Sources:

https://www.thestar.com/life/2017/06/20/washing-ones-hands-could-help-shift-goal-pursuit-new-study-finds.html

https://www.pexels.com/photo/adult-background-beach-blue-296282/

Infection prevention

APIC 2017 Film Festival Winner: “Look at Me Hand Hygiene”

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APIC, the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, announced the winner of its seventh annual Film Festival competition. The video, “Look at Me Hand Hygiene,” was created by Providence Health & Services Alaska, and stresses proper handwashing hygiene and techniques for hospital visitors and staff.

The video was chosen for its inventiveness, originality, general appeal, significance to the infection prevention community, and educational message.

The music video highlights the importance of thorough hand washing, stressing that hands should be washed for 20-25 seconds.

It also outlines W.L.S.R.D., which is  “wet, lather, scrub, rinse, dry,” as the basic steps for hand hygiene and infection prevention.

You can view all of the video submissions on the APIC website.

Brevis has also created multiple educational videos around hand hygiene. You can see them below.

Source: http://www.infectioncontroltoday.com/news/2017/06/apic-2017-film-festival-winner-highlights-hand-hygiene-as-infection-prevention-tool.aspx

 

 

Handwashing Saves Lives

Kindergartners In Medical School

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hand hygiene prevents infection

Kindergartners in Lebanon, Oregon, recently attended mini medical school at the College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific-Northwest. The COMP-Northwest program, now in its seventh year, provides four medical demonstration stations for the students with opportunities to learn about heart health, the skeletal system, and hand-washing techniques.

 

To demonstrate how to get their hands clean, Jess Reynolds said to the kids, “Let’s scrub up like surgeons.” The COMP-Northwest employee simulated germs by utilizing a fake dye on the children. With this visual, the children got an idea of how long it takes to thoroughly and effectively wash their hands.

 

The students then headed to the “operating room” where one kindergartener played the role of patient as the other young students learned while removing cloth versions of organs. Another station allowed the children to look at an x-ray of a hand with a broken finger.

 

Event organizer and COMP-Northwest Associate Director of Clinical Education Jeannie Davis explains it’s a day to give these children their first day of college, and it helps alleviate fear of doctors.

 

These kids have learned the importance of handwashing is on par with skeletal structure and organ function. Teach the kids in your life the same with GlitterBug Potion.  

Sources:

http://lebanon-express.com/news/local/kinders-learn-about-medicine-during-mini-med-school/article_d82ba905-50d6-5e84-b4eb-7a96e777c83e.html

http://www.brevis.com/blog/2016/09/glitterbug-potion/

http://www.brevis.com/blog/2016/08/glitterbug-gel-a-primer/

Infection prevention, Superbugs

Flu Pandemic: On Its Way?

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Are you a germophobe quiz

 

When we think of the flu we tend to think of the seasonal flu, the one that arrives in the fall and hangs around through spring, the virus for which we get our annual flu shot.

 

When we think of a pandemic, we think of a crisis situation, a worldwide outbreak.

 

Is a pandemic flu even possible? Not only is it possible, it’s happened before. And according to an article by CNN’s Chief Medical Correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, it will happen again in the next 20 to 30 years.  

 

In 1918 the Spanish Flu caused 20% to 40% of the world’s population to fall ill, and more than 50 million people died. The Asian Flu killed 2 million in 1958-59. The Hong Kong Flu resulted in the death of a million people, 34,000 of which were in the United States, between September, 1968, and March, 1969.

 

The good news is, we’re better prepared than we have been in the past. The ability to quickly identify viruses, and develop and produce vaccines has seen vast improvement in recent years. The most ideal situation to be prepared for the worst would mean partnerships between governments, collaboration between the private and public sectors, adequate research and funding, as well as the general acceptance and recognition of the likelihood of a flu pandemic in our lifetime. With these in place, it would be fitting to quote epidemiologist Larry Brilliant, who lead the effort to eradicate Small Pox: pandemics can be optional.

Of course, whether you find yourself with flu (seasonal flu is still around in spring months!) or if you’re simply trying to avoid getting sick, remember to wash your hands properly with soap and water to prevent the spread of germs, or use an antibacterial hand rub (sanitizer). Avoiding touching your eyes, nose, and mouth is another way to avoid spreading germs, and when you’re sick, stay home as much as possible.

 

Sources:

http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/07/health/flu-pandemic-sanjay-gupta/index.html

https://www.cdc.gov/flu/protect/habits.htm

Handwashing Saves Lives

Hand Washing in Many Languages

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Accurate communication is crucial in providing health services. Employees in hospitals, clinics, and community health centers need to be able to reach individuals with limited English proficiency (LEP) through language and understanding of culture.

 

One helpful resource is HealthReach, which provides quality multilingual, multicultural public health information for those who provide health care for individuals with LEP. Brochures, videos, toolkits, reports, and fact sheets are available to help improve the quality of service and communication efforts between providers and patients.

 

Hand washing, of course, is crucial in protecting ourselves and others from illness. This 4-page handout explains in detail the proper procedure for washing with soap and water (and drying!), and also using sanitizer, in both English and Traditional Chinese.

 

 

Having the instructions in both languages ensures clarity for both parties in communicating information as central to health as hand hygiene.

 

More information is available, including information available for print or download in more than 15 languages, at https://www.healthinfotranslations.org/.  

 

Sources:

https://healthreach.nlm.nih.gov/document/621/Hand-Washing

https://healthreach.nlm.nih.gov/about-healthreach

https://www.healthinfotranslations.org/pdfDocs/HandWashing_TCH.pdf

https://www.healthinfotranslations.org/

Handwashing Saves Lives

Patient and physician co-washing may increase clinic hand washing

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Accountability.

And partnership.

We know that when we have both, good things usually occur.

The March/April 2017 issue of the Annals of Family Medicine discusses a new approach to outpatient hand washing involving that involves both partnership and accountability: patient and physician co-washing.

And preliminary studies show that this practice may increase hand washing.

Gregory A. Doyle, M.D. (from West Virginia University in Morgantown), and his colleagues tested a new approach involving patient and physician hand washing.
Clinicians offered sanitizer to the patient and used the sanitizer to wash their own hands in front of the patient.
Data were included from 384 questionnaires: 184 from phase 1 (pre-intervention) and 200 from phase 2 (post-intervention).

The researchers found that, according to patients, doctors washed their hands 96.6 and 99.5 percent of the time before examining them pre-intervention and post-intervention, respectively.

Overall, 98.7 percent of the time patients endorsed the importance of hand washing.

“Further research is recommended to determine whether ‘co-washing’ enhances clinic hand washing or hand washing at home by patients, and whether it can reduce infection rates,” the authors write.

Want more information about hand hygiene and overall health? Check out these book at brevis.com!

Handwashing Saves Lives

Hand Hygiene and Travel

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Travel is a part of life. Some travel out of necessity for work, others for enjoyment, relaxation, or adventure. Whatever your reasons for traveling might be, we can all agree that unexpected interruptions can make for stressful situations of what would have otherwise been a pleasant experience.

While some of what happens while traveling is out of our hands, there are steps we can take to prepare for a seamless trip. Planning ahead can save money and stress. Travel insurance can provide peace of mind. Bringing along a pillow or book can provide the comfort or distraction you seek. And because getting sick while traveling can be miserable, make sure to pay attention to the cleanliness around you.

Avoiding germs during air travel might seem impossible when you consider how many people are spending a few hours together in an enclosed space. You never know who around you might be sick, or the health of the people who just took a flight in what is now your seat. Research has shown the spots to be aware of are the seatback tray table, the seatback pocket, the seatbelt buckles, and the overhead air vent. Marvin M. Lipman, M.D., Consumer Reports’ chief medical adviser, recommends using alcohol-based wipes on each of those surfaces before touching them. He also recommends washing your hands frequently with clean, hot water and soap (which may be more feasible in the airport rather than on the plane).

Whether you’re making plans for spring break or looking ahead to a summer family reunion, make sure to do everything you can to stop germs from traveling with you. Pack the wipes, pack the hand sanitizer, and plan for clean-up stops in restrooms along the way.

 

**For a quick refresher course on the most-effective way to use hand sanitizer, see our 45-second video about GlitterBug Gel.

 

Sources:

http://www.consumerreports.org/airline-travel/9-ways-to-save-money-and-your-sanity-when-flying/

Handwashing Saves Lives, Infection prevention

Handwashing: A History

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The benefits of proper hand hygiene are well-documented. From teaching it to children in schools and homes, to requiring it of employees in health care and food service industries, handwashing is an ongoing topic of discussion in several professional and personal settings.

 

How long have we been doing this? When did humanity begin to learn the importance of hand washing?

 

handwashing-1468144-1279x958

 

In 1847 a Hungarian physician named Ignaz Semmelweis was working at a hospital in Vienna, Austria. Dr. Semmelweis suspected a link between the high incidence of postpartum fever and death among patients, and the interns who cared for those patients…interns who also, as part of their duties, performed autopsies. After having the interns disinfect their hands with a chlorinated lime solution, Dr. Semmelweis saw an immediate reduction in fatal postpartum fever among patients. His findings, however, were met with rejection and ridicule. He was let go from the hospital, and the harassment he received in the Vienna medical community drove him to Budapest. Eventually he was committed to a mental institution, where he died. It wasn’t until 1859, when Louis Pasteur– a chemist, not a doctor– developed his germ theory of disease, that the advantages of handwashing were recognized.

 

Today we know the benefits of handwashing: many transient microorganisms are easily removed with good hygiene practices, and proper hand washing greatly reduces the risk of healthcare associated infections. We know we should wash our hands prior to handling or eating food, after changing a diaper or using the restroom, after coughing or sneezing, after playing outdoors, after playing with animals, and any other time our hands may have been contaminated.

 

Hand washing is most effective when done correctly. While washing hands, many often miss fingertips, thumbs, the backs of hands, and wrists. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends at least 20 seconds of hand washing to remove disease-causing germs.

 

Are you washing your hands effectively? If you need a refresher course, be sure to check out GlitterBug Gel and Potion.

 

Sources:

http://ravallirepublic.com/lifestyles/health-med-fit/article_09d6305c-d22e-11e6-9cb9-5336ed144387.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/timelines/z9kj2hv#ztn487h

https://www.cdc.gov/features/handwashing/

http://www.brevis.com/blog/2016/08/glitterbug-gel-or-potion-that-is-the-question/