CDC, experts assert hand-washing a must
It’s been said over and over again by parents, health care professionals and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Hand-washing with soap and water is one of the most effective ways to stop the spread of germs and stay healthy, said Janette Wheat, Cooperative Extension Program specialist and associate professor of human development and family studies at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff.
“This is vital as we struggle to stop the spread of covid-19,” she said in a news release.
Keeping hands clean can prevent one in three diarrheal illnesses and one in five respiratory infections, such as a cold or the flu, according to 2020 CDC research and Wheat. One reason that handwashing is so important is that many germs that make people sick are spread when hands are not washed with soap and clean, running water, she said.
Hand-washing is especially important after using the bathroom, preparing food, before eating, and after coughing, sneezing or blowing the nose, she said. In addition to being simple and inexpensive, it can also dramatically reduce the number of children who get sick.
Hand-washing education in the community can:
■ Reduce the number of people who get sick with diarrhea by about 23–40%;
■ Reduce absenteeism due to gastrointestinal illness in schoolchildren by 29-57%;
■ Reduce diarrheal illness in people with weakened immune systems by about 58%;
■ Reduce respiratory illnesses in the general population by about 16-21%.
The CDC has developed resources and materials to help promote hand-washing in the community.
CDC resources can be accessed by:
■ Downloading resources from CDC’s national hand-washing campaign website, Life is Better with Clean Hands;
■ Learning the right way to wash hands with their videos;
■ Providing messages on multiple platforms to raise awareness on the importance of hand-washing;
■ Downloading and sharing buttons and badges about handwashing on a website or social media account;
■ Ordering free posters to remind everyone to fight off germs by washing their hands.
The Life is Better with Clean Hands website http://www.cdc.gov/handwashing/campaign.html provides materials in both English and Spanish. Materials include posters, fact sheets, social media posts and graphics, videos, sample posts, banners and stickers. It also provides tips for parents, people preparing food, office employees and others.