Why is it important to wash your hands for respiratory infections – colds and flu?

Hand washing is the simplest and most ordinary action for reading this article. A little soap and water – and hands are clean. However, hand washing has its own quirks. Proper hand washing avoids many diseases, especially transmitted by airborne droplets – colds and flu.

Why is it important to wash your hands?

The most basic, what can be done, not to get sick and stop the spread of cold and flu viruses – wash their hands as often as possible. This procedure allows you to wash off harmful microbes, who came to the hands of other people or from contaminated surfaces. One of the most common modes of transmission of colds and the flu is by touching the nose or eyes after the hands have been contaminated with a cold or flu virus. Frequent hand washing is able to reduce the spread of these viruses. Some studies show, that when children are taught to carefully wash their hands school absenteeism due to illness is reduced, especially, When washing is combined with the use of hand rub with alcohol-based.

The results will not be slow in coming, so often you need to wash your hands, particularly in the following cases:

• When the hands are dirty;
• To, during and after cooking;
• Before eating;
• After using the toilet;
• After changing diapers;
• After treatment of animals or animal waste;
• After removal of debris;
• After blowing your nose, sneezing or coughing;
• Before and after the treatment of wounds;
• When caring for patients.

How to wash your hands?

To properly wash your hands, do the following:

• At first, you need to wet your hands with warm or cold water and apply soap;
• Then you need to vigorously rub hands, to create a lather. It is necessary to clean the entire surface of the hand, including between the toes, the back of the hand and wrist. You also need to clean the dirt under the fingernails, to remove germs. Nails should be cut-off and short;
• Continue rubbing your hands for at least 20 seconds or thereabouts. Friction in conjunction with cleansing soap helps to kill germs and wash;
• It is necessary to rinse your hands and dry them with a clean cloth, towel or dry under a stream of hot air;
• If possible, you need to use a towel, to turn off the tap water, and open the door.

If soap and water are not readily available, alcohol-based cleaners can replace hand washing. However, this is not the best option, when hands are visibly dirty.