With cold and flu season looming, many folks wonder if it’s still appropriate to extend a friendly hand at church, in the workplace, or when making an introduction.
Doesn’t hand-to-hand contact create a highway for germs? And shouldn’t that make handshakes taboo, especially during this sneezy, sniffly time of year?
In the clip below, Ann Marie Pettis gives some suggestions for ways to practice safe handshaking — plus, some tips for maintaining good hand hygiene in general.
Pettis directs Infection Prevention programs at URMC hospitals (Strong Memorial and Highland).
Sorry, Rayford–we don’t have that option on our blog (to follow comments), so we’re not quite sure why you’re getting e-mailed! If you would like more assistance, though, please send a screenshot to scripts@urmctoday.com, and we’ll try to troubleshoot with you some more!
Again, so sorry!
After I originally commented I appear to have clicked the -Notify me
when new comments are added- checkbox and from now on every time a comment is added I
receive four emails with the same comment. Perhaps there is a means
you are able to remove me from that service?
Cheers!
Pingback: Is That Spa Clean Enough to Do Your Pedicure? | Scripts
Leslie, we’re sorry the video isn’t appearing for you on this page. You can also watch it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_v6hNqp1bg.
And you raise a great point about not putting fingers in your eyes, mouth or nose — Ann Marie Pettis actually says the exact same thing in the clip! It’s not enough to simply have germs on your hands — they need to be transferred to one of your mucous membranes to wreak real damage.
Thanks for the comment!
Unfortunately the “clip” doesn’t appear on my view of this webpage, but isn’t it more an issue of putting your hands/fingers in your mouth, eyes, or nose? That’s how germs transfer. And, I might add, it’s not just people’s hands to worry about. You can touch a door knob several hours after an “infected” person touched it and the common cold can easily be “picked up.”
I’d prefer training myself not to touch my eyes before washing my hands rather than stopping an American (Western? Universal?) custom of shaking hands with another person.