It's a dirty world - Clean your hands!

Think about all the things you touch each day, or worse, think about all the things your child touches every day. We carry millions of germs on our hands. Most are harmless, but some cause illnesses such as colds, flu and diarrhea.

Research results are clear. The single most important way to keep children healthy is to teach them to wash their hands. Help them start this important healthy habit when they are young. To reduce the risk of infection:

Wet hands with warm water to kill germs.
Place a small amount of soap in the palm of one hand.
Rub hands together quickly, rubbing soap between fingers, on backs of hands and lightly scratching fingernails on palms of hands. Rub for at least 10 seconds. Make it fun. Have your child sing a song while washing. Use Happy Birthday, the ABCs or your child's favorite song that takes at least 10 seconds to sing.
Rinse hands well with warm water, being sure to scrub while rinsing. Point fingers down in the sink. This will rinse germs off hands.
Dry hands, making sure they are completely dry.

Make sure your family has clean hands before you:

Prepare or eat food.
Treat a cut or wound.
Tend to someone who is sick.
Put in or take out contact lenses.
Do any kind of activity that involves putting your fingers in or near your mouth and eyes.

After you:

Go to the bathroom.
Handle uncooked foods, especially raw meat.
Eat.
Blow or wipe your nose, cough or sneeze.
Handle garbage.
Tend to someone who is sick.
Handle an animal.

Hand sanitizers

When you do not have access to soap and water, waterless, alcohol-based hand sanitizers can provide a good alternative. When using hand sanitizer gel, keep the following in mind:

Keep out of reach from children, along with other products containing ethanol such as perfumes and mouthwashes.
Supervise your children and teach them how to use hand sanitizer gel.
Do not worry about a taste or a lick of hand sanitizer gel, though greater quantities are toxic.