How to Protect Your Family From Germs

 How do you protect your family from germs when there is so much conflicting information out there? Well, somewhere between the folks who love dousing everything with bleach and the folks who pride themselves on cleaning nothing lies a common-sense approach to germ prevention. Here are a few easy (and inexpensive) steps you can take to avoid the germs that may truly pose a risk to your family.

STEP 1: Pick your battles. Your body actually needs a certain level of germ exposure to build and maintain a healthy immune system. Rather than spray everything in sight with disinfectant, concentrate on the germs that are truly dangerous or cost you lost days at work or school. These include cold and flu viruses, the fungal infections responsible for jock itch and yeast infections, fecal-borne bacteria like E. coli and germs associated with food poisonings like Salmonella.

STEP 2: If you can only clean one space in your home, make it your kitchen. This is by far the "germiest" room in you home. And not only does it tend to have high germ counts; it also tends to have germs that can make you very ill. Salmonella and E. coli are two extremely common germs found in the kitchen that are thought to cause most cases of food poisoning. Remember that last flu you had? It may not have been the flu at all. It may have been Salmonella.

STEP 3: Practice good hand washing. The Centers for Disease Control and other experts estimate that 80% of all infections are spread directly through hand-to-hand contact yet only about 2/3 of all adults even wash their hands after using the toilet. Teach your children to wash their hands with soap under running water for 20 seconds. And have them wash immediately after coming indoors and immediately before eating or drinking.

STEP 4: Invest in a HEPA-grade vacuum cleaner and keep it in tip-top shape. Did you know that salmonella can live for 60 days in your vacuum cleaner's bag or reservoir? If your vacuum cleaner is not properly maintained, you can actually spew germs, dead skin and dust mite feces back into your air every time you turn that vacuum cleaner back on.

STEP 5: Keep your bathroom as dry as possible. Germs love moisture and the fungus that causes jock itch, ringworm and athlete's foot can be easily spread from family member to family member through towels, bath mats and damp rugs. Don't encourage towel sharing but do launder bath mats and bathroom rugs frequently.

TIPS FOR A GERM-SENSIBLE HOME: If the idea of using antibacterial cosmetics and toiletries worries you, simply switch to non-germ-killing varieties. Remember, soaps, shampoos and body washes don't actually kill germs; they simply break the bond that holds germs to your skin and allow you to flush those germs down the drain. By avoiding antibacterial soaps you can almost eliminate the chance of encouraging resistant strains of those germs.

WARNING: Remember, most of the germs that live in and on our bodies are perfectly harmless and a few are actually beneficial. Rather than try to eliminate all the pathogens from your home, concentrate on the germs that are truly dangerous, like Salmonella and E. coli. After all, the best way to protect your family from germs is to know what germs you're fighting in the first place.

Img Source: www.cdc.gov

Comments (2)

paul said:

	... Great tips for staying germ free!
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June 25, 2009
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Carl Benjamin said:

	... Congratulations on being featured.
	report abuse vote down vote up

September 13, 2010
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