The Importance of Hand Hygiene in Preventing the Spread of Disease

Learning the importance of clean hands or hand hygiene helps to prevent the spreading of germs and diseases. However, if we ignore hand hygiene, our hands become the home of multiple infections, bacteria, and viruses. It becomes the primary cause of falling sick unnecessarily, especially when the weather changes.

The best solution is to follow a strict hand hygiene routine and learn first aid for seasonal flu and viral situations. At least, when you are aware that you or someone else around you is infected, you can treat them on time. So, becoming first aid certified by a nationally accepted course provider, like the American CPR Care Association, helps us prioritize good health and prepare us for the worst-case scenarios.

What is the importance of hand hygiene?

Hand hygiene is extremely important because our hands come into contact with many germs and bacteria throughout the day. These germs can make us sick if they get into our bodies.

Washing our hands with soap and water can help remove these germs and prevent the spread of diseases. It is important to wash our hands before and after eating, after blowing our nose or coughing, and after touching animals or other people.

Hand hygiene is especially important during illness outbreaks, like the COVID-19 pandemic or the seasonal flu. By washing our hands frequently and properly, we can help prevent the spread of these illnesses.

In addition to washing our hands, it is also important to avoid touching our face with our hands, as this can transfer germs from our hands into our bodies. Using hand sanitizer when we don’t have access to soap and water is also helpful in killing germs on our hands.

Remember, hand hygiene is one of the simplest and most effective ways to prevent diseases or germs from spreading. By washing our hands regularly and properly, we also help keep ourselves and those around us healthy and away from bacterial attacks.

How can you maintain hand hygiene?

Tips on how to maintain hand hygiene:

1. Wash your hands frequently: Regular hand washing is one of the effective and best ways to prevent the spread of germs. Ideally, you must wash your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds.
2. Use hand sanitizer: Use an alcohol-based sanitizer containing at least 60% alcohol. It is when you don’t have water or soap to use. Rub the sanitizer all over your hands until they are dry.
3. Avoid touching your face: Your hands can pick up germs from different surfaces, and touching your face can transfer those germs into your body.
4. Cover your mouth: Cover your nose/mouth when you cough or sneeze. Throw the used tissue in the trash and wash your hands immediately.
5. Clean and disinfect surfaces: Germs can live on surfaces for hours or even days. So clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces, like doorknobs, light switches, and countertops.

By following these simple steps released by centers for disease control, you can promote the importance of hand hygiene and keep everyone around you safe.

10 circumstances in which hand hygiene is important to reduce the spread of infection

There are many circumstances in which hand hygiene is important to reduce the spread of infection. Here are ten examples:

1. Before eating: We touch many surfaces with our hands, and if we don’t wash our hands before eating, we could transfer germs from those surfaces into our food and then into our bodies.
2. After using the bathroom: Our hands can pick up bacteria and viruses from using the toilet.
3. After blowing our nose or coughing: When we cough or sneeze, we can spread germs through the air, but we can also transfer them to our hands.
4. After handling animals: Animals can carry bacteria and viruses that can make us sick.
5. After touching garbage: Garbage can be full of germs and bacteria; if we don’t wash our hands after touching it, germs can spread to different surfaces around us.
6. After touching money: Money can be a breeding ground for germs as we don’t know who else has touched those notes or coins.
7. Before and after caring for someone sick: When someone is sick, they are more likely to spread germs. We must wash our hands after caring for sick people to avoid germs from spreading or contaminating the environment.
8. After using public transportation: Public transportation is used by many people and can be a source of germs and bacteria.
9. Before and after visiting a hospital: Hospitals are full of sick people. We can become a host of viruses if we don’t wash our hands, after or before visiting a hospital.
10. After touching shared objects: Shared objects, like doorknobs, light switches, and elevator buttons, can be a source of germs.

Conclusion

Become a certified first-aider and help people recover from the side effect of not taking care of their hand hygiene on time. This is even more critical when there is an outburst of viral and seasonal infections like COVID-19. At least, with a nationally recognized first aid course from American CPR Care Association, you can protect yourself and save lives of people by following a strict hand hygiene routine and keeping the germs from spreading further.