Keeping germs in check
> Ways to make sure that pesky – and maybe dangerous – bug don’t spread to other family members
EVERY parent knows that little hands are apt at bringing germs into the house. But you don’t have to suffer from constant colds and sickness bugs – there are things you can do to keep germs in check in the home.
Families cannot completely eliminate all potential infections, but a few simple rules will help careful parents to significantly reduce the risk of catching their children’s germs.
Linda Seefeld of the German Federal Office for Health Education says the most important thing is good hand hygiene. About 80% of all infectious diseases are spread via the hands, she notes.
Stomach bugs, like norovirus and rotavirus, can generally survive for quite some time outside the human body. If we don’t wash our hands after we vomit or go to the toilet, such viruses will quickly spread to others in the family.
The fight against such a process is quite simple: washing one’s hands regularly and thoroughly reduces the number of germs on the skin.
“To clean infected surfaces, for example when removing vomit, we should use disposable wipes,” says Sebastian Lemmen, an expert from the German Society of Infectiology.
It also makes sense to change the sick person’s bed sheets and towels regularly, ideally washing them in water at 60°C or more, Seefeld adds. Detergent that contains bleach will afford increased protection.
Objects and surfaces that have been used by the sick member of the family could also be full of germs. That means door and window handles and bannisters, for example, should be cleaned regularly with standard cleaning products. If at all possible, anyone suffering from a sickness bug should use a separate toilet.
Germs that cause cold symptoms like a fever, coughing and sneezing behave differently. They need to come into direct contact with the mucous membranes in the eyes, mouth or nose to cause any damage.
The most important way to prevent that from happening is to stick to what Lemmen calls good “coughing and sneezing etiquette”. That is, we should make sure we always cough or sneeze into our upper sleeve, and blow our nose using disposable tissues.
Concerned parents with young children may ask themselves what they can do about toys and teddy bears.
Reinhard Berner, head of the paediatrics clinic at the Dresden university hospital, says they should not worry too much. “It is not necessary to wash cuddly animals and toys after a regular flu,” he says.
Keeping a certain distance from a sick person clearly helps prevent infection, but how can we do that when our four-yearold is lying in bed with a temperature and wants a cuddle?
“Caring parents need to accept the risk of infection, because a sick child will particularly need their attention, physically too,” Lemmen says.
Moreover, not all instances of infection are passed on to parents. Very often, exactly the opposite happens, in Lemmen’s experience: the parents of sick children stay healthy. – dpa