HANDWASHING is #1 in the hygiene stakes. Keeping our hands clean with good hand washing is one of the most important steps we can take to avoid getting sick and spreading our germs (bacteria and viruses) to others.

Some illnesses and diseases that can be spread by poor hand hygiene are colds, viruses, influenza (the flu) & gastro, just to name a few!

We need to wash our hands:

• before preparing and touching food
• after touching food such as raw chicken, meat and fish
• after going to the toilet
• after coughing, sneezing and blowing your nose
• after petting and playing with animals

It takes soap and water to wash our hands properly (or hand sanitiser if soap and water is not available) and we need to wash our hands for at least 15 – 20 seconds (sing the Happy Birthday song twice) to get rid of the germs properly.

RESPIRATORY HYGIENE – Respiratory hygiene is protecting other people from catching our germs when we are coughing and sneezing. When we cough and sneeze moist droplets are sprayed through the air from our noses and mouths. These droplets can carry germs a distance of up to 1 meter and some germs can live for several hours. If we use our hands to cover our coughs and sneezes we end up with the infected droplets on our hands which we can spread simply by touching objects. Other people then touch these objects unknowingly and the germs are transferred to their hands.

We need to use tissues to catch our coughs and sneezes. We need to bin the tissues quickly and then we need to wash our hands (or use hand sanitiser if soap and water unavailable). If we don’t have tissues at our disposal it is recommended that we sneeze or cough into the crook of our elbows.

If we are unwell it is best to stay at home until we have recovered. This lessens the chances of us spreading our illnesses to others.

Emma Atkinson

School Health Nurse