We get the strongest hand sanitizer and "cut" it. By that I mean, it is split in half and Aloe Vera and 99% alcohol are added to it to strengthen as well as provide moisture. I am an asthmatic and have to be extremely careful during flu season. Our primary care doc was duly impressed with what we are doing. We also do NOT touch our face at any time after being in public and touching items (e.g. chairs, railings, doors) until we have used the sanitizer. We have done extremely well with this protocol for over 10 years.
2
Do hand sanitizers work preventing Leptospirosis?? Is there a more effective brand? What ingredients should I look for? Thanks!
The efficiency of hand sanitizers in cutting down the rate of illness is debatable as there are many reasons which contribute towards a certain illness. But hand sanitizers certainly help in keeping you germ free and from contracting disease, especially through hands. There are many hand sanitizers such as O Hand Sanitizer (https://www.snapdeal.com/product/o-hand-sanitizer-1-ml/661234141404) which are easy on the hands unlike some other sanitizers which dry out the hands after a few hands.
Many people have commented about the inefficacy of hand sanitizers with certain bacteria and viruses and and washing with soap and water and friction is preferable.
Yes whenever possible using the preferred method is ... preferable. However, there are situations where you don't have access to soap and water. In those instances, a hand sanitizer is much better than nothing.
Yes whenever possible using the preferred method is ... preferable. However, there are situations where you don't have access to soap and water. In those instances, a hand sanitizer is much better than nothing.
2
I wonder what Miles of the show "Frasier" would think. He's a doctor. Maybe they can make hand sanitizers fashionable enough for the New York Times!
This article didn't mention the danger of overuse of hand sanitizers, which is a public health issue. Development of antibiotic resistant bacteria is partially attributed to this practice.
6
"Grocery carts can be particularly risky points of transmission. Someone grabbing chicken or meat can leak the juices onto a cart and their hands, and then continue to push the cart around, transmitting pathogens like Salmonella and E. coli onto the handle. The next person who handles the cart, or the next child who sits in the top of the wagon, can then pick up the bugs."
This proves that we have much more to fear from our morbid runaway imaginations than we do from germs. At this rate, consumers will be demanding that supermarkets put their shopping carts through autoclaves and make Tyvek suits available to shoppers so they can survive their trip to the grocery store.
This proves that we have much more to fear from our morbid runaway imaginations than we do from germs. At this rate, consumers will be demanding that supermarkets put their shopping carts through autoclaves and make Tyvek suits available to shoppers so they can survive their trip to the grocery store.
4
Try to avoid running up and kissing babies when you have cold sore, tuberculosis or mono. Just a suggestion. That really didn't do much to toughen up my immune system.
1
You might want to add secretaries to that
2
This article has woken me up...I am lazy at the market, but I am going to start wiping the cart or basket handle,this Monday...better safe than sorry...the people making jokes, hope they have their medical insurance paid up.
1
My mother once wiped the SOLES of her shoes with antibacterial wipes after she left a filthy house and stepped outside. Because that's how irrational people get about "germs".
She walks through the exhalations of other people at malls, grocery stores, etc and, in fact(!), she inhales in public places. That doesn't seem to faze her, which makes zero sense.
Unless you're going to stop breathing once you leave your house, the hand sanitizer and wet wipes are nothing more than security blankets. Wash your hands before you eat and stop obsessing.
She walks through the exhalations of other people at malls, grocery stores, etc and, in fact(!), she inhales in public places. That doesn't seem to faze her, which makes zero sense.
Unless you're going to stop breathing once you leave your house, the hand sanitizer and wet wipes are nothing more than security blankets. Wash your hands before you eat and stop obsessing.
14
Many, if not most, infectious diseases are not airborne, so your mother is not being entirely irrational. The main means of transmission is via the hands, directly or through an intermediary object.
1
I've spent hours waiting fruitlessly in the bathroom for an employee to show up to wash my hands - the sign clearly says, "Employees must wash hands", so where are they when I need them?
I will add a solid "whoosh" here for those who do not get this... ;-)
I will add a solid "whoosh" here for those who do not get this... ;-)
21
Wise guy! I love a sense of humur.
3
There are wipes for the shopping cart but none for the payment card PIN pad, which must surely be touched by more people (with chicken leakage on their fingers). For any one cart handled by five people, there is one checkout payment terminal fingered by one hundred. Don't rub your eyes!
17
Thank you! I wish someone would test the payment card pads because my theory is that this is in fact the germiest part of the whole grocery shopping experience! I dislike using the stylus and try to sign, if I have to sign, using my fingernail. I carry hand sanitizer in my purse and car too.
Since I stopped biting my nails years ago I don't get sick anywhere nearly as frequently as I used to.
Hand sanitizers are outside every hospital room because they prevent the transmission of bacteria.
5
Yet hand washing might be more effective?
5
Highly doubtful. It's more likely they're there for liability reasons.
4
The purpose of washing one's hands is to put potentially hazardous bacteria down the sink. There is absolutely no need to try to kill the bacteria or viruses on our hands.
The use of hand sanitizers, in fact, will predictably help pathogens evolve resistance to the sanitizing chemicals, making them useless.
The use of hand sanitizers, in fact, will predictably help pathogens evolve resistance to the sanitizing chemicals, making them useless.
13
Not to alcohol they won't! There is no genetic reasonably likely adaptation. A non-spore-former bacterium will not evolve into a spore-former.
5
Thank heavens for that! For a minute there, I thought I might have to dump the wine
3
Serious research is being done on how copper can kill germs dead in their tracks in hospitals if used on door handle fittings. Rather than rubbing lotions on us all the time this could be a viable alternative especially in public places.
http://theconversation.com/copper-is-great-at-killing-superbugs-so-why-d...
http://theconversation.com/copper-is-great-at-killing-superbugs-so-why-d...
8
There has never been a pushback on soap. Given the choice I'd always grope for soap first before succumbing to sanitizer.
16
I go to a church where the majority love to shake hands as part of the ritual. It's stupid and particularly dumb during flu season. But god forbid you can get a minister to suggest people shouldn't do it even during the peak of an epidemic. God will take care of us hand shakers don't you know.
9
I think sipping wine out of a common chalice at a church service would also spread disease; I would never do it. But then again, I don't go to church, either, but for other reasons.
3
Note that the CDC says, in preventing Norovirus: "Alcohol-based hand sanitizers can be used in addition to hand washing. But, they should not be used as a substitute for washing with soap and water." This is a big problem, people using hand sanitizer instead of washing with soap and water, even when washing facilities are readily available. Also, people failing to wash their hands after going to the bathroom is all too common, and people also failing to wash their hands before eating. Until everyone's personal hygiene improves, illnesses will continue to spread like wildfire. (Note that I've been on 16 cruises and have never been ill, but I wash my hands frequently, especially after using the bathroom and before eating, and I'm careful what public surfaces I touch, like avoiding handrails.)
11
I would rather wash, and that others wash as well; but on a cruise I took, I have to admit I was relieved to see stewards enforcing mass hand sanitizer use at the entrance to the dining areas. Better than nothing, or having mass illness on board.
11
I cannot help but wonder if all these hand sanitizers and obsession with not being exposed to any germs is not making us less healthy. Maybe my age is what is causing this - I remember drinking water directly from the hose laying in the grass, only washing my hands because my mom made me before dinner and on and on. I try not to follow any of this overblown, paranoid advise - please - expose me to the minor so that I may better fight the major. There is a reason for the super bugs, the children allergic to everything, antibiotic resistant bugs - etc. I am convinced that, yes, some of it is due to the changes in processing our food (the chemicals, hormones, antibiotics) - but a lot of it is due our excess, out of control obsession to make sure we aren't exposed to anything that might help our immune system increase through minor exposures.
24
I wonder the same thing. This seems like it would be similar to the situation with allergies. Kids who are not exposed to allergens have been found to be more likely to become allergic. The immune system needs to learn what is normal - I.e., harmless - in a person's environment and also to develop immunities to to things that are not through exposure, hopefully to a manageable amount of a pathogen, or through vaccination for more dangerous ones.
1
Here's a different approach: quit freaking out over germs.
Wash your hands with soap before meals to protect yourself. Wash your hands after using the bathroom to protect others. Get vaccines. Don't eat or drink after sick people. Even traces of other people's fecal matter on your hands is not going to mean certain death and disease.
I'm a teacher, so if it's airborne, I'm going to get exposed. I guess I could wear a mask to work, but I don't plan to live my life in mortal dread of everyday viruses and bacteria.
If it's not airborne, it's not likely to be something that can kill me here in the middle of the US in 21st century, so hand-washing before meals is all I do. And if I can't wash my hands, I eat anyway.
Wash your hands with soap before meals to protect yourself. Wash your hands after using the bathroom to protect others. Get vaccines. Don't eat or drink after sick people. Even traces of other people's fecal matter on your hands is not going to mean certain death and disease.
I'm a teacher, so if it's airborne, I'm going to get exposed. I guess I could wear a mask to work, but I don't plan to live my life in mortal dread of everyday viruses and bacteria.
If it's not airborne, it's not likely to be something that can kill me here in the middle of the US in 21st century, so hand-washing before meals is all I do. And if I can't wash my hands, I eat anyway.
10
Hand sanitizer isn't necessary in most cases, but for those occasions when you CANNOT wash your hands -- there is no bathroom, no soap, no towels, its filthy in there -- or there is no bathroom around -- or you are away from home, camping or on vacation -- it is very convenient and a way to get your hands clean without water.
That is all. It is not a miracle product.
That is all. It is not a miracle product.
11
Well, I always start meal preparations by washing my hands first. I wash them before I brush my teeth, too. And I wash before I eat, and after using the toilet. I wash them after I've been outside gardening -- to remove all that lovely lively dirt. Probably other times, too. And I wash and rinse them for at least 15 seconds each, each time.
2
Ask Well, and you are likely to get an incomplete answer. Instead of examining public experience, the author should have looked to hospital experience. In a representative study, here is what health scientists said wrote:
"....evidence supports the belief that improved hand hygiene can reduce health-care--associated infection rates. Failure to perform appropriate hand hygiene is considered the leading cause of health-care--associated infections and spread of multi-resistant organisms and has been recognized as a substantial contributor to outbreaks." https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/rr5116a1.htm
Alcohol-based sanitizers, especially those containing aloe vera, are great for severely reducing hand nose, and hand to other-person transmission of infectious diseases.
"....evidence supports the belief that improved hand hygiene can reduce health-care--associated infection rates. Failure to perform appropriate hand hygiene is considered the leading cause of health-care--associated infections and spread of multi-resistant organisms and has been recognized as a substantial contributor to outbreaks." https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/rr5116a1.htm
Alcohol-based sanitizers, especially those containing aloe vera, are great for severely reducing hand nose, and hand to other-person transmission of infectious diseases.
22
Thanking you!
2
I believe we have developed germaphobia as a society. This is especially, true with respect to children. I have young parents in my family who refuse to allow their children to enjoy simple pleasure of playing outside and touching anything that they don't feel is sanitized. And then, they feed them "t.v." Dinners and precooked meals.. There is no question that good sanitation is a good practice . However, IMO,children need to be exposed to some bugs if they are to grow up to live a normal life and in normal environment....
11
I wish there had been a mention of c.diff )Clostridium difficile organism. This is a serious illness. The c.diff organism is NOT killed by any of the hand sanitizers.
Hospitals, and certainly all of use, would be much better off using plain soap, combined with the friction of REALLY washing your hands. People can, and do die if they have c.diff. NYT had a marvelous article on this subject in the past year or so. I am sure you can find it.
Hospitals, and certainly all of use, would be much better off using plain soap, combined with the friction of REALLY washing your hands. People can, and do die if they have c.diff. NYT had a marvelous article on this subject in the past year or so. I am sure you can find it.
25
Hospitals ARE doing this. C. diff in the spore phase is resistant to chemical antisepsis, which is why additional mechanical antisepsis, or washing, is mandated in hospitals when a patient is known or suspected of harboring a spore-forming bacterium. The need for elevated precautions is posted prominently outside the patient's room.
8
That is only when C Diff has been identified. One is far, far more likely to acquire C Diff from an unidentified source. (And of course, that is only addressing hospital setting, not public.) The same holds true for MRSA; the patient you need to worry about is the one not identified.
Hand washing has improved because of the availability of those ubiquitous gel dispensers, but the method itself is not superior to correctly done hand washing with soap & water.
Hand washing has improved because of the availability of those ubiquitous gel dispensers, but the method itself is not superior to correctly done hand washing with soap & water.
5
“London airport bathrooms are usually fine because they are well designed to make sure we wash our hands properly — and dry them properly,” [ms. bloomfield] said, but some train “loos” leave something to be desired.
i believe that the correct name in the UK is a more fitting "lavatory" or even "washroom". the word "toilet" originally meant doily or cloth for dressing, but also perhaps eventually cloth for drying one's face and hands. "loo" might derive from "lieux d'aisance" or "places of ease" because one might become uneasy without such places.
in any case, most people before 1900 never heard of "germs", although even the ancients could figure out that "clean" was generally more healthy. it's just that the standards and frequencies of cleanliness were a lot lower then, even for nobles who did not have running water or flush toilets.
exits to public lavatories can be designed with push doors or no doors at all. please forward article to the architectural design department.
i believe that the correct name in the UK is a more fitting "lavatory" or even "washroom". the word "toilet" originally meant doily or cloth for dressing, but also perhaps eventually cloth for drying one's face and hands. "loo" might derive from "lieux d'aisance" or "places of ease" because one might become uneasy without such places.
in any case, most people before 1900 never heard of "germs", although even the ancients could figure out that "clean" was generally more healthy. it's just that the standards and frequencies of cleanliness were a lot lower then, even for nobles who did not have running water or flush toilets.
exits to public lavatories can be designed with push doors or no doors at all. please forward article to the architectural design department.
9
Loo comes from waterloo, cockney rhyming slang
2
Etymology of the word aside, many people in the UK refer to the toilet as "the loo".
Also: most people before 1900 had no allergies to speak of, if they weren't being killed off by influenza or other diseases. There is a balance to cleanliness, and we have now gone too far past clean into a different type of bacteria risk.
Also: most people before 1900 had no allergies to speak of, if they weren't being killed off by influenza or other diseases. There is a balance to cleanliness, and we have now gone too far past clean into a different type of bacteria risk.
I like motion activated faucets and soap dispensers. And I wish we had foot operated faucets for home use.
3
Will society ever switch from hand-shakes to fist bumps? Bumps are clearly more healthy. With my own MD, I have switched.
13
We nod and smile.
5
When I see my MD professionally, we still shake without qualms. The subsequent hand-washing is mandatory before a patient encounter anyway, so in this case it's a non-issue.
2
I just do elbow bumps! My family, friends & medical team comply!
2
Over the past couple of decades, especially after having children, I have trained myself not to touch my face with my hands anytime I'm in a public area - especially grocery stores, schools, and other high germ transmission areas - then washing my hands or using sanitizers as soon as possible afterwards. It doesn't avoid airborne illnesses, but keeping your hands away from your eyes/nose/mouth certainly helps.
41
Simple contact precautions can prevent the overwhelming majority of contagious infections, which are passed from mucous membrane to hand to hand to mucous membrane. Breaking that chain at any point is effective.
5
Improper use and over-prescription of antibiotics will soon render that medical arsenal -- an absolute miracle -- marginally effective or ineffective against many drug-resistant bacterial strains. Aftet that happens death tolls from previously conquered diseases like tuberculosis, pneumonia, MRSA and C.Diff infections will rise dramatically.
Correct hand-washing methods will be the only actual barrier to infections for which there will be no cure.
Correct hand-washing methods will be the only actual barrier to infections for which there will be no cure.
20
PSA: Alcohol-based sanitizers are useless against norovirus (referred to inaccurately as "stomach flu" - it's not a flu virus - and sometimes aptly referred to by nurses as "throw-and-go"). You need soap, water and friction. (And, while we're at it, you continue to be very contagious for a few days after your symptoms abate, so quarantine yourself even though you feel better - failing to do that is one of the reasons norovirus spreads so fast.)
43
And sadly, so many people misidentify norovirus as the flu or food poisoning or something else, and therefore, think they are better as soon as they are not throwing up or running to the bathroom. They go back to work....and spread it everywhere. Or school! It's awful.
12
There is zero way to figure out by yourself if you've got norovirus, so quarantining yourself after your symptoms subside on the off chance that you might have AND might transmit it is silly.
Even if you have norovirus and you spread it, it's not a calamity of Biblical proportions. It's norovirus. People get it and they get over it.
People who carry wipes around or fear viruses really should just stay home because they are fooling themselves if they think they aren't exposed to a million airborne pathogens every time they walk into a public place.
Even if you have norovirus and you spread it, it's not a calamity of Biblical proportions. It's norovirus. People get it and they get over it.
People who carry wipes around or fear viruses really should just stay home because they are fooling themselves if they think they aren't exposed to a million airborne pathogens every time they walk into a public place.
2
Those anti-septic wipes are good to use on doorknobs, refrigerator and stove handles, land line phones (if you still have them) etc. to cut down germs along with soap and water hand washing on a regular basis. Salad bars are also loaded with germs as people sneeze and cough as well as sometimes handle items. I never eat from salad bars.
9
Pick your poison: Eat food that is handled by customers in the front of the house, or food that is handled in the kitchen by the staff. At least you can observe the former. Either way, the salad bar, by law, has utensils and shields to mitigate the risk.
And before all that happens, your food grows in soil that is teeming with microbial life, not to mention enriched by the excreta of random bugs and animals that wander past. Moral: It is possible to overthink this.
And before all that happens, your food grows in soil that is teeming with microbial life, not to mention enriched by the excreta of random bugs and animals that wander past. Moral: It is possible to overthink this.
10
So what if people cough and sneeze near food you eat? So what if salad bars are "loaded with germs"? The PLANET is loaded with germs. We have more bacteria in and on our bodies than human cells.
If whatever germ a person might cough or sneeze hasn't killed them or even rendered them too ill to be standing in line at a salad bar, chances are it's not something that will make anyone else die or even get sick.
I have literally never known anyone who picked up a bacteria or virus somewhere and actually died from it. Heart disease? Yes. Cancer? Yes. Stroke? Yes. Bacterial infection transmitted from one person to another via a doorknob or a salad bar? Never.
Set yourself free from the antiseptic wipes! Your body is designed to fight off bacteria and probably enjoys the workout. And if you do get sick, so what? There are doctors and pharmacies everywhere. Live a little!
If whatever germ a person might cough or sneeze hasn't killed them or even rendered them too ill to be standing in line at a salad bar, chances are it's not something that will make anyone else die or even get sick.
I have literally never known anyone who picked up a bacteria or virus somewhere and actually died from it. Heart disease? Yes. Cancer? Yes. Stroke? Yes. Bacterial infection transmitted from one person to another via a doorknob or a salad bar? Never.
Set yourself free from the antiseptic wipes! Your body is designed to fight off bacteria and probably enjoys the workout. And if you do get sick, so what? There are doctors and pharmacies everywhere. Live a little!
5
All of this recent commercial solicitation of and product-promotion of 'hand-sanitizers' seems to me to be an extremely poor excuse. or worse, a replacement for hiring and paying hard-working and competent office and public building cleaners and janitors.
I can't tell you in enough superlatives here, how many times, recently, I've gone to use a public bathroom, whether in a public library, a public high or middle school, in a retail establishment, only to find 90 percent of them so completely dirty with floor grime and toilet mold that my gag reflex is now almost automatic when I'm forced to have to use one.
And, I'm hardly a germaphobe.
Sure, hand sanitizer's have a small place for use in our lives; but the REAL problem lies in American's refusal to do hard work cleaning or spend the $$ in labor to hire someone to do it- right.
I can't tell you in enough superlatives here, how many times, recently, I've gone to use a public bathroom, whether in a public library, a public high or middle school, in a retail establishment, only to find 90 percent of them so completely dirty with floor grime and toilet mold that my gag reflex is now almost automatic when I'm forced to have to use one.
And, I'm hardly a germaphobe.
Sure, hand sanitizer's have a small place for use in our lives; but the REAL problem lies in American's refusal to do hard work cleaning or spend the $$ in labor to hire someone to do it- right.
34
A good measure of whether we are doing an adequate job is to ask how often we are sick. I truly try to wash hands anytime I come home from outside, when I use the bathroom, and to clean my hands before I touch food. Since I am very rarely sick even with a minor cold, I figure that what I do is sufficient for my health...
31
Your experience may not be everyone's experience, so best not to generalize. People have varying immune systems, and those who have weaker systems are more prone to illness - regardless of their level of hygiene. Although hygiene certainly helps, one's immune response system is the greatest predictor of illness.
9
True! I have leukemia, many chemo txs & a stem cell transplant. My immune system is very different than most. I wash my hands and use saline spray often.
5
@Pam: I did not see any indication that Anne-Marie generalized in any way in her comment. She outlined very clearly what her cleansing processes were, and added that she has been quite healthy. In fact, her final sentence is proof of anything but generalizing, in that she refers specifically to "my health". Reading fundamentals...how will some people learn from advisories if they cannot interpret simple comments?
5