Let’s (Not) Shake on It: Are Handshakes Passé?

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).

A Crash Course: Flu 2010

On the heels of a downright bamboozling flu season – thanks to the debut of a novel H1N1 virus strain in May 2009 – many people are asking what they can expect later on this fall and winter.

To get to the bottom of the most common questions, we asked URMC flu guru Dr. John Treanor:

• Why we’re back to having just one flu shot (the seasonal vaccine);
• Why it might seem like you can get sick from the flu shot (really, you can’t!);
• To briefly review the vaccine’s safety record (he also divulges one surprising finding from the close scrutiny of the H1N1 vaccine);
• To offer tips for parents who are concerned about Australian reports suggesting an increased fever/seizure risk from one brand of vaccine.

After watching this clip, let us know if you feel like a flu expert yourself! And if you like, help us make this clip “go viral” by sharing with friends and family.(Couldn’t resist a flu pun!)

Looking for a flu shot? The University of Rochester School of Nursing holds several public clinics, linked here.

(URMC staff: Vaccine will be offered to hospital employees in early October, and to all other University staff via Well-U clinics beginning this month!)