According to the Centers for Disease Control washing hands with soap and water is the simplest and best way to prevent the spread of infections.
When soap water are not available, hand sanitizer should be used.

Would you believe that poor hand hygiene led to a tapeworm in the brain?

ABC News story:

 

 

FACTS YOU SHOULD KNOW Among the findings of a 2008 survey by the Soap and Detergent Association are: Only 39% of those surveyed seldom or never wash their hands after coughing or sneezing. 85% of respondents say they always wash their hands after going to the bathroom. 46% of respondents wash their hands 15 seconds or less. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends washing with soap at least 15-20 seconds.

 

 

Common Cold Facts:

A common cold is an illness caused by a virus infection located in the nose, and is caused by direct contact with someone infected or touching an afflicted surface.

There are over 100 different cold viruses. Rhino-viruses are the most important, and cause at least one half of all colds.

One government study reports lost earnings at $16.3 billion annually due to colds and Flu.

Common colds lead to 75 million to 100 million physician visits annually at an estimated cost of $8 billion.

Flu Facts:

Influenza, also known as "the Flu" kills about 36,000 Americans and hospitalizes more than 200,000 people annually.

The Flu is a contagious respiratory illness caused by an influenza virus.

One government study reports lost earnings at $16.3 billion annually due to colds and Flu.

The last Flu season was one of the worst and longest in history. By February, every state was reporting widespread Flu outbreaks.

 

 

Influenza Co-Infections Rise In Pediatric Patients From the Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics Vol. 122, No. 4, pp 805-811: While child death from influenza is rare, related co-infections such as Staphylococcus aureus have increased dramatically over the past three flu seasons. In the study, "Influenza-Associated Pediatric Mortality in the United States: Increase of Staphylococcus aureus Co infection", researchers reviewed CDC demographic, clinical and laboratory data on influenza-associated pediatric deaths during the three flu seasons between the fall of 2004 and the spring of 2007. During each flu season, the number of influenza-S. aureus co-infections increased - 2 percent, 6 percent and 30 percent, respectively. Children with influenza-S. aureus co-infection were significantly more likely to be older and have pneumonia than children with influenza alone. The study authors recommend additional studies to evaluate risk factors for influenza co-infection, and the role of influenza vaccine in preventing infection and death.

 

MRSA Facts:

MRSA or Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, is a staph infection caused by a bacteria that does not respond to routine treatment by antibiotics.

Approximately 25% to 30% of the population is colonized with staph, and 1% to 2% of the population is colonized with MRSA.

Staph, including MRSA are spread by direct skin to skin contact, or contact with a contaminated surface.

According to a CDC led study in the October 17, 2007 edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association, MRSA caused more deaths than AIDS in 2005.

Regular and frequent hand washing with soap and water, and hand sanitizing using a product thats meets CDC standards, is the best defense against the contagion of MRSA.

 

 

According to the Centers for Disease Control ... Hospital patients get more than 1 million infections each year while they are being treated for something else. Examples are infections in the blood, surgical wounds, urinary tract, plus pneumonia Practicing proper hand hygiene by hand washing or use of an alcohol based hand sanitizer by patients and hospital care givers, is the best way that patients can protect themselves. Scientists estimate that up to 80% of all infections are transmitted by hands.

 

School Related Infection Facts: Nearly 22 million school days are lost annually due to the common cold according to the Centers of Disease Control 52.2 million cases of the common cold affect Americans under the age of 17 each year – CDC Diarrhea is the second only to the common cold as a cause of lost working time, with about 25 days lost from work or school each year…. -School Network for Absenteeism Prevention Teacher illness costs time and money…... -School Network for Absenteeism Prevention Students don’t clean their hands often or well enough….only 58% of female and 48% of male middle and high school students washed their hands after using washroom…. A case-control study of 6,080 school children showed that those who used classroom-dispensers, instant hand sanitizers…. experienced 20% fewer absences due to illness-The Journal of School Nursing (Alyce A. Schultz, RN, PHD, FAAN) The Journal of the American Medical Association (2006) reports MRSA kills more people yearly than AIDS

 

 

“Germiest” Jobs In the USA

Dr. Charles Gerba, a microbiologist at the University of Arizona, whose nickname is "Dr. Germ," spoke to ABC News recently, about the germiest professions in America:

1. School teacher/day-care center worker
2. Cashier, bank employee
3. Tech support/computer repair
4. Doctor or nurse
5. Lab scientist
6. Police officer
7. Animal control officer
8. Janitor or plumber
9. Sanitation worker (AKA garbage man/woman)
10. Meat packer

 

Glossary of Infection Terms

Acute Symptoms - Severe / serious signs of illness.

Antibiotics - Drugs that are used to combat illnesses caused by micro-organisms, usually bacteria or fungi. Some commonly used antibiotics are amoxicillin, streptomycin and erythromycin.

Antibacterial - Destroys or inhibits the growth of bacteria.

Antimicrobial - Destroys or inhibits the growth of microorganisms; these can be bacteria, viruses or fungi.

Bacteria - A large group of unicellular microorganisms. Bacteria are ubiquitous in every habitat on Earth, the Earth's crust, as well as in organic matter and the live bodies of plants and animals.

Bacterial Growth - The division of one bacterium into two idential daughter cells during a process called binary fission. Hence, local doubling of the bacterial population occurs.

Bio-based - Composed, in whole or in significant part, of biological products, forestry materials, or renewable domestic agricultural materials including plant, animal, or marine materials.

Catheter - A catheter is a thin, hollow tube usually made of rubber that is placed into the bladder to inject or remove fluid.

Colon - Part of the large intestine in the body's digestive system.

Colonize - A number (group) of germs thriving and multiplying in one area.

Common Cold - a highly contagious, viral infectious disease of the upper respiratory system, primarily caused by certain viruses.

Cross Contamination - The physical movement or transfer of harmful bacteria from one person, object or place to another. Cross contamination is a key factor in food borne illness (food poisoning), and it has four common sources:- food, people, equipment and work surfaces.

Dehydration - The extreme loss, or lack, of water and essential minerals from the body.

Diarrhea - The passing of frequent watery stools when you go to the toilet.

Disinfectant - Antimicrobial agent that is applied to non-living objects to destroy microorganisms. A disinfectant must have a higher kill capability for pathogenic bacteria compared to that of a sanitizer.

Dormant - Inactive.

Drip - A way to pass fluid or blood into your bloodstream, through a plastic tube and needle that goes into one of your arteries or veins.

Drug resistant - Describes a germ that is not affected or killed by a drug or medicine that is used to fight it.
Fecal - Of or relating to waste product from an animal's digestive tract expelled through or during defecation.

Fever - A fever is when you have a high body temperature (over 38¡C or 100.4¡F).

Food poisoning - (Technically, foodborne illness) is any illness resulting from the consumption of food. Most cases are caused by a variety of pathogenic bacteria, viruses, prions or parasites that contaminate food, usually arising from improper handling, preparation, or food storage.

Gastroenteritis - (also known as stomach flu, although unrelated to influenza) is inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract, involving both the stomach and the small intestine and resulting in acute diarrhea. The inflammation is caused most often by infection with certain viruses.

Germs - A pathogenic micro-organism. (See Pathogens and Microbes.)

Immune system - Your body's natural defence system, fights germs.

Influenza - ("the") An infectious disease of birds and mammals caused by RNA viruses of the family Orthomyxoviridae (the influenza viruses), and is typically transmitted through the air by coughs or sneezes; by saliva, nasal secretions, feces and blood creating aerosols containing the virus; or through contact with infected body fluids or with contaminated surfaces.

Intravenous drip - A method of administering blood, drugs or fluids very quickly into the bloodstream through a vein. See Drip.

Microbes - A minute life form; this includes bacteria, viruses and fungi.

MRSA - Methicillin or "Multiple"-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (pronounced "mersa") is a strain of Staphylococcus aureus bacterium that is resistant to a large group of antibiotics called the beta-lactams, which include the penicillins and the cephalosporins. it is responsible for difficult-to-treat infections, and sometimes fatal, in humans.

Nausea - When you feel as if you want to vomit.

Norovirus - A virus that causes acute gastroenteritis. Named after 1968 Norwalk OH outbreak. The viruses are transmitted by faecally contaminated food or water and by person-to-person contact.

Organism - A general term for any living thing, from humans to bacteria.

Pathogen(s) - A disease-causing microorganism or material. Can be used to describe a germ(s), generally any harmful viruses, bacteria, or fungi.

Pneumonia - Pneumonia is inflammation of the lungs, usually caused by an infection.

Prion - A protein particle that is believed to be the cause of certain brain diseases. Prions are not visible microscopically, contain no nucleic acid, and are highly resistant to destruction.

Pseudomonas Aeruginosa - A bacterium with unipolar motility. It is a pathogen that can cause infection in an unhealthy immune system of both animals and plants and typically infects the pulmonary tract, urinary tract, burns, wounds, and also causes other blood infections.

Respiratory - Affecting the lungs and airways.

Sanitizer - A substance that reduces the number of microorganisms to a safe level. A sanitizer must be capable of killing 99.999%, of a specific bacterial test population, and to do so within 30 seconds.

Semi-closed environments - Places like hospitals, care homes, nursing homes, medical centres, gyms, schools and barracks.

Spores - Produced by bacteria, fungi, algae and some plants, they are small, very hardy and can survive extremes of temperature, drought and lack of nutrients. They can be dormant but still capable of growing into a new organism.

Sputum - A type of mucus brought up from the lungs when you cough.

Staph - (Staphylococcus) is a genus of Gram-positive bacteria, and include 31 species. Staph can cause a wide variety of diseases in humans and other animals through either toxin production or invasion. Staph toxins are a common cause of food poisoning, as it can grow in improperly-stored food.

Staphylococcus Aureus - The most common cause of staph infections. It is a spherical bacterium, frequently found in the nose and skin of a person. It can cause a range of illnesses from minor skin infections to life-threatening diseases such as pneumonia.

Stomach flu - A commonly used term for gastroenteritis (see gastroenteritis). It is unrelated to influenza.

Strain - A particular type of something.

Superbug(s) - Germs that have become resistant to the antibiotics used to kill them.

Symptoms - The physical signs of illness, such as fevers, pains, coughs, rashes etc.

Virus - A sub-microscopic infectious agent that is unable to grow or reproduce outside a host cell. Viruses infect all cellular life. They are about 100 times smaller than bacteria.