The Best Ways to Handle Germs
The War Against Germs Wages On-Add These Weapons to Your Arsenal.
It doesn't take a lot of work to steer clear of germs and illness. Remember these basic, important steps and check out some new ways to stay healthy and clean.
Recent headlines of MRSA and other bacteria have heightened concern about germs. Cold and flu season always brings extra precaution for avoiding infection, but people are even more worried with staph and other infections constantly in the news.
Common Sense Solutions
- Wash your hands. We hear this all the time and there's a reason. It's probably the most important thing to do to prevent the spread of infection. Recent studies show that plain soap and water works just as well, if not better, than antibacterial soaps.
- Use a proper hand sanitizer (at least 60% alcohol) in between washing and any time you are in public, touching anything someone else might have touched - shopping carts, steering wheels, in restaurants, on playground equipment. Make sure you get every part of the hand, including under the nails, where germs hide.
- Clean doorknobs, toys, TV remote controls, keyboards, mouse pads, refrigerator handles, counter tops, railings, doorknobs, faucets, bathroom floors and other items touched daily with a disinfecting cleaner.
- Wash small cuts and scrapes with soap and water. Apply an ointment and put on a bandage, and change the bandage every day until the wound heals. Never touch someone else's wound and wear gloves if helping dress a cut.
- Paper -A simple way to eliminate potential infection is to replace hand towels in bathrooms with paper towels. While not as “pretty”, functionally this one step can help get rid of potentially vast numbers of germs residing in towels.
New ways to fight germs
- New ointments are available at pharmacies that are antiseptic and will kill over 99.9% of MRSA germs, preventing an infection. Tec Laboratories Incorporated, an Oregon company, makes the only topical wound care product available, StapAseptic, which has been proven to kill staph methicillin-resistant bacteria. According to Lisa Leverich, the company's marketing coordinator, studies have proven their antiseptic ointment is effective in killing methicillin resistant staph and strep in addition to the three other FDA-tested bacterias (e coli, staph and pseudomona)
- "Smart" trash cans that open automatically. iTouchless Innovation Housewares & Products has kitchen and bathroom trash cans that use infrared technology to open and close automatically. Already in use in hospitals, nursing homes, schools and day-care centers, these are now available to consumers for about $100.
- Toothbrush sanitizers came on the market a few years ago and work using ultraviolet light to disinfect the brushes daily. For $50-$100, they work well, eliminating germs that live and breed . In addition, dentists recommend replacing toothbrushes monthly, or any time you’ve been sick.
- New air purifiers that clean and sanitize the air, as well as kill bacteria like staph.
- Dyson, makers of cutting-edge technology vacuum cleaners, has recently introduced home hand dryers that are fast, energy efficient and help in sanitization.
On the horizon
Clothes that fight germs-Dr. Stephen Michielsen, Ph.D.North Carolina State University and Dr. Gordon Churchward, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at Emory University are working on technology for a nano-thin layer with antimicrobial properties that are put on materials such as cotton, nylon, and polyester. Their innovation could be commercially used on sheets, masks, hospital gowns, as well as daily clothing in fighting germs.
Winning the war against germs will always include diligence in keeping clean. And as long as there is a need, antibacterial technology will continue to evolve to keep up with the ever-changing bacteria and viruses that become more resilient.
