Lately I have been hearing more and more about handwashing. The latest I heard… on a random television show that was on while I was in the other room) was:

Wash your hands 30 seconds and  do it twice. Wow!

I would say especially do this after you come in from being out on errands to stores, schools, church, etc.

Here is yet another articie on handwashing and then I will stop nagging you about it. (Well, for NOW!)

Break the chain of transmission by washing hands
Published November 11, 2007
[ From Charlotte Shopping Guide ]

CHARLOTTE — Over the past weeks, the Barry-Eaton District Health Department has noted an increase in absenteeism due to upper respiratory illness (“colds”) and gastroenteritis (vomiting and/or diarrhea) in some schools in both Barry and Eaton counties. What these disorders have in common is that they are contagious. They are passed directly from person-to-person. The keys to breaking the chain of transmission are handwashing, and staying home when you are sick.

Washing your hands is the most important thing that you can do to keep from getting sick or giving your illness to someone else. By frequently washing your hands you wash away germs that you have picked up from other people, from contaminated surfaces, or from animals and animal waste. When you do not wash your hands frequently you pick up germs from other sources and then you infect yourself when you touch your eyes, nose, or mouth. You can also spread germs directly to others or onto surfaces that other people touch, and before you know it, everybody around you is getting sick.

The important thing to remember is that, in addition to colds, and gastroenteritis, the risk for other diseases — like hepatitis A, meningitis, influenza and MRSA — can easily be reduced or possibly avoided if people make a habit of washing their hands.
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It is especially important to wash your hands:

# Before, during, and after you prepare food.

# Before you eat, and after you use the bathroom.

# After handling animals or animal waste.

# When your hands are dirty.

# After you cough, sneeze, or blow your nose.

# More frequently when someone in your home is sick.

What is the correct way to wash your hands?

# First wet your hands and apply liquid or clean bar soap.

# Next rub your hands vigorously together and scrub all surfaces.

# Continue rubbing hands for 20 seconds. Need a timer? Imagine singing “Happy Birthday” twice through to a friend.

# Rinse hands well under running water

# Dry your hands using a paper towel or air dryer. If possible, use your paper towel to turn off the faucet.

Remember: If soap and water are not available, use alcohol-based gel to clean hands.

It is estimated that one out of three people do not wash their hands after using the restroom.

In addition to frequent hand washing, clean and disinfect areas that are touched frequently, such as door handles, stair rails, tables, counters, toilet handles, phones, light switches, toilets and faucets with a bleach-based cleanser. For bathroom fixtures, use 1/3 cup of bleach in one gallon of water.

— From the Barry-Eaton District Health Department

(source:  Philip M. Tierno, Jr., M.D.,
 author of “The Secret Life of Germs.”

19,000 people died from it in 2006.  hey generally occur in Health Care Facilities but can and do get out into the general public.

Precautions Against Staph Infections.

Staph can be transmitted person-to-person via hand contact, through nasal discharge, and from infected skin lesions. There are a number of things people can do to help protect themselves from accidentally contracting MRSA.

The health-care group offers these tips:

• Wash hands frequently and thoroughly.

• Keep cuts bandaged and covered until they are healed.

• Avoid contact with other people’s wounds.

• Don’t share personal items, such as towels or razors.

http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2007/oct/24/take-precautions-against-staph-infections/

Deadly staph infection is reported in Jersey
Three high schoolers have caught MRSA
Saturday, October 20, 2007
BY AMY ELLIS NUTT
Star-Ledger Staff
http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/index.ssf?/base/news-12/119285430510980.xml&coll=1

Three New Jersey high school students have been diagnosed with a dangerous and potentially deadly bacterial infection that has forced more than half a dozen states to close schools in the past few days.

The New Jersey students, two from Vernon Township High and one from Point Pleasant Boro High, are being treated for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, a staph infection that does not respond well to a whole class of standard antibiotics. The three students are reported to be doing well.

“In the last few years the Department of Health and Senior Services has received a few reports of sporadic or small outbreaks of community-associated MRSA infections,” said Eddy Bresnitz, the deputy commissioner of New Jersey’s Department of Health and Senior Services.

“These outbreaks have occurred in a prison, school or associated with a sports team. We are unaware that any school child has died as a result of a community-associated MRSA outbreak in New Jersey.”

Three MRSA-associated deaths have occurred in the past two weeks in Mississippi, New Hampshire and Virginia.

On Thursday, officials at Point Pleasant Boro High School received confirmation a male student who had been out sick for two weeks was infected with the antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

“As soon as we received word from the physician, we posted an announcement on the school Web site and sent e-mails to every parent in the school district,” said Larry Lhulier, a spokesman for the township’s schools. “We contacted the Ocean County Department of Health and they said there was no risk to students if precautions were followed.”

School officials immediately called in professional cleaners who disinfected classrooms, locker rooms and other public areas overnight. A middle school and two elementary schools in Ocean County also will be sanitized over the weekend, although no MRSA cases have been reported at any of them.

Yesterday, Anthony Macerino, superintendent of Vernon Township public schools, sent a letter to parents advising them, among other things, that two high school students had been diagnosed with MRSA infections.

“We have been assured, time and time again, that the situation remains under control,” Macerino wrote in an e-mail response to questions. “And as long as individuals continue to take personal hygiene care, continue to report other cases (if there are any) and continue to follow other reminders as listed in my letter, we should remain fine.”

Staph germs are normally found on the skin and in the nasal passages of 20 percent to 40 percent of healthy people and are usually not dangerous unless they enter a person’s body through a cut, boil, scratch or by inhalation. The germ is also contagious and the primary route of transmission is person-to-person contact, making hospitals and schools particularly vulnerable.

The sudden spike in MRSA cases nationwide comes on the heels of a recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which found 19,000 people in the United States had died from MRSA infections in 2005. Eighty-five percent of those cases, however, were reported in health care settings.

“This is not a new issue. We’ve been focused on this for a number of years,” said Bresnitz. “I think the thing to emphasize is there’s always been a problem in hospitals, but now, more and more, we have community-associated infections.”

Methicillin-resistant staph infections first emerged in the 1960s, almost exclusively in hospitals, and the numbers have been steadily rising since. Between 1974 and 2006, MRSA jumped from 2 percent to 63 percent of all hospital-acquired staph infections. In August, Gov. Jon Corzine signed a law requiring all New Jersey hospitals to institute screening and isolation programs to fight the proliferation of the superbug.

Sixty years ago, penicillin was effective 99 percent of the time against a staph aureus infection. Today, say experts, it is effective just 5 percent of the time. The problem is that the more an antibiotic is used, the less effective it becomes, because it kills off all but the strongest, most drug-resistant bacteria.

“The bigger issue is what causes germs to become resistant,” said Bresnitz, “and that’s overprescribing and inappropriate prescribing of antibiotics. Society is not paying enough attention to that, except when there’s a crisis.”

Amy Ellis Nutt may be reached at anutt@starledger.com

Staph infection case brings school scrub

After a security guard tested positive for an MRSA infection, the smell of lemon-scented cleaner filled the hallways yesterday at Newark’s Roberto Clemente Elementary School as shoes squeaked on the shiny floors.

“The sanitization is a precaution,” Newark Schools Superintendent Marion Bolden said of the scrubbing to ward off another case of the antibiotic-resistant infection.

The cleanup will extend to all of Newark’s 80 school buildings, where there have been no other reports of staph infection, according to Steve Morlino, executive director of facilities management, and Lydia Silva, an assistant superintendent.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, is marked by a resistance to standard treatment and can be fatal. In addition to Newark, there have been cases in Vernon, Point Pleasant Borough, Hackettstown, Maplewood, Clifton and Paterson. In Brooklyn, a 12-year-old died this month of the so-called “superbug.”

Newark school officials took action after the security guard’s infection was discovered Friday, Bolden said.

The condition of the security guard was not available yesterday.

Immediately after the school day ended Friday, workers started wiping down all surface areas of the building with an environmentally friendly hydrogen peroxide solution, Morlino said.

Bolden said school officials notified parents and posted a bulletin on the district’s Web site.

Veronica Plaza, who has two children in the school, said she was alarmed by the MRSA case.

“I’m not going to send my children in until they are sure that everything is clean and fine,” the Summer Avenue resident said.

Bolden said the school will be open today and students should take precautions by washing their hands.

Michael Burton, a supervisor of custodial staff, said more than a dozen workers disinfected the school over the weekend and went through countless gallons of hydrogen peroxide.

Bolden referred to guidelines from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, saying staph bacteria is passed by skin-to-skin contact or through an open wound. The bacteria have a short shelf life of 48 to 72 hours.

MRSA-related deaths have occurred in Mississippi, New Hampshire and Virginia. No one is known to have died from the infection in New Jersey.