Right now, there’s a nasty virus lurking near you, just waiting to strike and Take. You. Down.
It could be hiding on the bus. Or on that coffee someone just gave you. That hand you just shook. That door handle you just touched.
In a few days, you’ll have a fever and you’ll be vomiting and suffering the stomach cramps from hell (thanks, norovirus).
Or you’ll have a fever that is accompanied by a sore throat and more snot than you ever thought it was possible for a person to produce (cheers, classic winter flu virus).
But there’s one thing you can do to prevent getting those virus germs anywhere near your body this winter.
It’s all about…
*cue suspense please*
… washing your hands.
I know, right? You probably thought I was about to hand over some big, magical secret. But there are no secrets. It’s just the same old hand-washing message that’s been spun to us ever since we all became toilet trained.
Although, it seems the hand-washing message isn’t getting through. In fact, stats have shown that a whopping one in four people don’t wash their hands after going to the bathroom. Seriously, who are you people? I need to know so that I can avoid you.
The rest – three out of four people – aren’t washing their hands properly. And this is drastically affecting their health.
According to the ABC:
The US Centre for Disease Control says ‘handwashing is like a “do-it-yourself” vaccine’ for a range of illnesses. Research shows that compared to non-handwashers, those who wash four times a day can have up to 24 per cent fewer sick days due to respiratory infections and 51 per cent fewer days off due to tummy problems. Not only that, proper hand washing could also eliminate about half of all cases of food-borne illness.
Surprisingly, washing your hands properly is quite the process. Here’s exactly what you need to do to become the ultimate hand-washing, germ-avoiding expert:
1. Remove rings and watches, wet your hands
You want to use clean, running water for this – the “running” part is important because you’re not really getting your hands any cleaner if you’re, say, washing them in a sink that’s full of water.
Top Comments
I think this is all great advice, but can we add that you should turn off the tap while you lather up? Water is so precious in this country and losing all the beautiful, clean water as we rub hands together for 15 sec is worse than not-so-perfectly washed hands I think.
me and my kids always wash our hands before eating, and on arriving home from anywhere.
And this might be a little extreme but they love it - shower/bath straight after school. i believe this super helps in keeping us germ free.