Hygiene helps prevent disease

Practicing healthy habits can be very effective in preventing many contagious diseases.

The "flu" is a catch-all name for a reaction to invasion by one of a number of viruses. Each year, the flu vaccine is developed on a best guess of which viruses are likely to pop up during the flu season. It’s possible to get the flu vaccine and still get sick with the flu caused by a virus that wasn’t affected by the vaccine.

All of these viruses have something in common. They are spread in droplets caused when you cough or sneeze. They mostly spread from person to person, but you could become infected by touching something with the virus on it, and then touching your mouth, nose, or eyes.

Which leads to a very important, some would say the most important, action you can take to avoid the flu. Wash your hands. Wash them thoroughly. Wash them often. And don’t touch your face until you have washed your hands.

You can’t see germs and viruses. Your hands may look perfectly clean but you may still be carrying germs. Hand washing could prevent you from picking up the flu as well as many other diseases, including the common cold, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), hepatitis A, meningitis, and infectious diarrhea, and many other diseases.

It is estimated that one out of three people do not wash their hands after using the restroom. So hand washing is especially important when you are out in public.

Washing your hands costs you just a few cents, and it could save you a very expensive visit to your doctor.

Common sense prevention

If you were infected with the flu virus, you could infect others one day before you know you’re sick, and up to seven days after getting sick.

"A few simple precautions can prevent you from spreading or picking up viruses," says Alden Roberts, M.D., Southwest's Chief Medical Officer.

• Avoid close contact with people who are sick. If you are sick, avoid close contact with others so they don’t get sick, too.
   
• Stay away from work, school and other public places when you are sick to protect others.
   
• Cover your mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing. Use a tissue. Put the used tissue into a wastebasket. If you don’t have a tissue, cough into your upper sleeve, not in your hands.
   
• Wash your hands often. "Antibacterial soaps aren't necessarily better than regular soap and water, and they can be much more irritating to your skin,” Dr. Roberts adds. “They can also lead to bacteria that are resistant to some types of soap and medications. So stick with regular hand soap. It is the scrubbing and the water that makes washing effective.”

There is a right way to wash your hands to prevent the spread of disease.

• First, wet your hands and apply liquid or clean bar soap. Place the bar soap on a rack and allow it to drain.
   
• Next rub your hands vigorously together and scrub all surfaces.
   
• Continue rubbing for 10 to 15 seconds or about as long as it takes you to hum Twinkle Twinkle Little Star or Happy Birthday. The combination of soap and the scrubbing action helps dislodge and remove germs.
   
• Rinse well and dry your hands. If you’re using a public facility, anything you touch could harbor germs. Turn off the faucet with the towel after you dry your hands. Use your sleeved elbow to turn on air dryers. If soap and water are not available, you can clean your hands with an alcohol-based hand cleaner if your hands aren’t visibly dirty.