Sandbox safety and poop -- Michelle Mazur
Cats view sandboxes as a giant litterboxes.
Uncovered sandboxes can pose a threat to a child’s health if there is fecal matter in the sand. Dogs, raccoons, and especially cats may use this area as a bathroom space. These animals are known to carry many parasites, such as hookworms, roundworms, whipworms, tapeworms, and coccidia.
If a child puts her fingers in her mouth, she can be infecting herself with the eggs of a parasite. In some cases, the hookworms will penetrate the skin, causing a condition called cutaneous larva migrans. In 2006, a summer camp in Florida reported an outbreak of cutaneous larva migrans involving 18 campers and four staff members. Cat feces in a sandbox was thought to be the source of the infection.
Scott Weese, a veterinarian and publisher of the Worms and Germs blog, said recently,
"There's certainly no indication that children should not go into sandboxes. These are extremely rare diseases that affect a very, very small number of people in North America every year."
But if a child puts a handful of sand in his mouth, that might just be the winning ticket to the parasite lottery.
Some preventative measures to keep the parasites out of the sandbox are:
~ Cover the sandbox when it is not in use. Commercial sandboxes come with covers, or a simple board with a brick on top of it will help to keep wild animals out of the sandbox.
~ Supervise children when they are playing in the sandbox and prevent them from putting their hands in their mouths.
~ Always, always, after coming in from playing outside, wash your hands.
Bathrooms in Japan
Michelle Mazur has been working with me for several months. She's starting vet school in the fall and came up with the cryptosporidium-in-pools infosheet.
Michelle just returned from two weeks in Japan. I asked her to take some pictures of Japanese hand washing facilities and the like. In her own words,
"I'm a bit embarrassed at how many pictures I took during the trip. At first my group members made fun of me taking photos of bathrooms, but by the end of the trip they would walk out of the bathroom saying "Cool, Michelle, you've got to go in and take a picture of that awesome bathroom!"
Michelle's photo odyessy is available at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/27779935@N05/sets/72157605689172182/
Her commentary is quite funny.
Would you ask your doctor if she washed her hands?
I'm an advocate for asking questions.
Where was that fresh produce grown? What temperature is medium-rare? Did the cook wash his hands after going to the bathroom?
I also recognize that most people -- including me -- feel socially awkward asking such questions.
So, would you ask your doctor if he has washed his hands?
That's what Carmela Fragomeni of The Hamilton Spectator in Canada asked this morning.
Hamilton resident Maria Pimentel says,
"I'm not comfortable to ask him because maybe he'd get upset."
Linda VanRysell believes doctors would always automatically be washing their hands before examining a patient, stating,
"I assume they're professional."
Dr. David Higgins, chief of staff at St. Joe's in Hamilton, said if he were to fail to wash his hands, he hopes patients would called him on it, adding,
"I should thank the person for doing it. That's the ideal culture."
Should airplane bathrooms have sinks?
Allison Arieff writes in a New York Times blog that,
"… a recent short hop I took on Horizon Air set a new dismal standard for cost efficiency.
The lavatory had no sink.
Ick.
It did have a lone plastic bottle of hand sanitizer glued to the counter" (right, photo by Bryan Burkhart).
While the water in sinks is not for drinking, I can think of lots of scenarios -- and have even experienced a few -- where water and paper towel is essential for cleanup on an airplane.
Hepatitis linked to Melbourne café
Five people have been struck down with Hepatitis A in an outbreak traced to Zanzibar Cafe on Latrobe Street in Melbourne's city centre.
Victoria's Department of Human Services said the outbreak has been linked to a food handler who also worked part time as a cleaner.
A 65-year-old man from Doncaster, a 32-year-old woman from Reservoir, a 51-year-old man from East Malvern and a 54-year-old man from Aspendale were among those affected. The department was notified of a fifth case on Friday afternoon.
An extensive clean up of the cafe had been carried out under the supervision of Melbourne City Council.
Hepatitis A is found in feces of the infected person and can be spread by direct contact with food, beverages or crockery.
Mimzy and me and Amy
Last year it was five weeks touring France; this year, Amy's studying business French in Quebec and Ontario (Canada) and I'm tagging along.
We left Manhattan and our dogs on May 21, but picked up another for the 18 hour drive: a borzoi, or Russian wolf hound, named Mimzy who a friend in Guelph, Ontario, had purchased from its current owner in Manhattan (Kansas).
That's Mimzy and me (right). She made the trip, uh, interesting (and should come standard-issue with a drool bucket).
After games of golf, hockey, a committee meeting with Chapman and meals with kids, friends and parents, it was off to Montreal. We're staying in the Latin Quarter, and today wondered through the Notre-Dame Basilica.
This is the bathroom (right) in the Basilica, and like every other public washroom I've visited in Quebec, there was no paper towel. Proper handwashing requires the proper tools, and that includes paper towels.
And because this song was played during the beginning of tonight's game 2 of the Detroit-Pittsburgh Stanley Cup finals, here is Stompin' Tom Connors with, The Hockey Song.
Food safety is not simple; and please, stop yelling
When people write using exclamation marks, especially in an e-mail or web-based postings, they seem to be yelling,
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At the reader.
At me.
The U.K. Institute of Food Science & Technology issued an update yesterday on avoiding cross-contamination in the home. Why did the group specifically target the home and not include food service and retail? No idea.
I won't bicker with the advice -- although in some cases it seems excessive and culled from brochures rather than actual observation. For example, under handwashing, the report says,
"Wash hands, including finger-tips, thoroughly with soap and water for at least 20 seconds and dry them thoroughly before you start preparing food. Do this repeatedly during food preparation - after every interruption and always if you have had to change the baby's nappy or have been to the toilet; or after combing or touching your hair, nose, mouth or ears; or after eating, smoking, coughing or blowing nose; or after handling waste food or refuse; or after handling dirty cloths, crockery etc; or after shaking hands; or after touching shoes, the floor or other dirty surfaces. After preparing raw foods such as fish, meat, or poultry, wash your hands again before you start handling other foods. Rings can harbour germs - remove them before preparing food!
Twenty seconds of handwashing -- which is itself excessive -- is further excessive after simply scratching (not picking) my nose. I'm sure that will spark some hate mail. We were talking about that yesterday during my presentation at the Alabama Food Safety and Defense Conference in Montgomery, AL, yesterday.
But look at that exclamation mark. Gives it the ring of a fascist line-dancing instructor barking out orders.
The document concludes by stating,
If you suspect cooked, or ready-to-eat food might be contaminated, don't serve it or eat it!
Remember:
Food-poisoning is preventable - avoiding cross-contamination is simple and important!
Food safety is not simple. And save the exclamation marks for the truly exclamatory.
Should sinks be beside toilets or next door?
When Amy and I were in France last year, I was struck by how all of the toilets were contained rooms and the sinks for handwashing were located with the shower and bath in a separate room, and wondered if this was the best design.
Sally Bloomfield, honorary professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, has similar wonderings about bathroom layout and has criticized Norwegian Cruise Lines for ditching cabin bathrooms in favor of separate basin and toilet cubicles.
“Norovirus spreads by person-to-person contact and through contact with surfaces that have been touched by people carrying the bug. Everyone should wash their hands as soon as they have been to the toilet and the toilet area should be designed to encourage that. That means putting the sink by the toilet.”
A spokesman for NCL said,
“Having the basin outside the commode gives guests more space within the bathroom and allows guests the ability for one to shower while the other is using the sink.”
Which is why apartments like the one we stayed at in Paris are designed such, but is it best to control disease transmission?
Time to survey toilets
The Western Mail in Wales reports the National Assembly’s Enterprise and Learning Committee has found education funding is so complicated schools are missing out on vital cash for basic facilities like clean toilets and classrooms as a result.
It is calling on the Education Minister Jane Hutt to lift the “funding fog”, and also wants the Assembly Government to carry out an immediate survey of all school toilets.
Sharon Mills, of Deri, near Bargoed, whose five-year-old son Mason died after contracting E. coli, said,
"We are living in the 21st century, yet many school toilets are like something from the dark ages."
Although it is believed the Deri Primary School pupil contracted the food poisoning bug through infected meat, many of the 150 people – most of them school children – who were struck down two years ago contracted the illness from people who were already infected. Promoting good handwashing habits is seen as one of the best ways of preventing disease.
But an inquiry by leading Welsh health experts found that a failure by many schools to provide basics such as warm water and soap for children to wash their hands after using the toilet encouraged the bug to spread.
Mother-of-two Pam Sacchi, of Bridgend, whose son Daniel, now 14, was hospitalised after contracting E.coli in 2005 when he was 12, said:
“I still have parents coming up to me, complaining their children don’t have soap to wash their hands with in their school toilets. This should not be happening and something needs to be done. I realise there are sometimes funding shortfalls but the health of our children must come first.”
Proper handwashing begins with access to proper tools. That is why soap and paper towels are a necessary requirement for any public bathroom.
'Hand sanity' at Kansas State
The Kansas State Collegian cited Mike Heideman, communication specialist for the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, as saying that hand sanity is a good way to avoid some of the risks of getting sick.
Maybe hand sanitation.
The reporter called me and I gave her some stuff, but she eventually talked to food science MSc student and barfblogger Andrew Reece, who -- fresh off his microwave cooking video -- said students should pay attention to packaging labels and that using a microwave oven to cook food is not a proper substitute for a standard oven if that's what a package calls for.
"Sometimes packaging can be really vague, and the food may seem fully cooked, but isn't."
Additionally, students can visit foodsafety.ksu.edu and barfblog.ksu.edu for more information about food safety.
Way to plug the home team.
Joye Gordon, associate professor of journalism, said a common cause of foodborne illness locally is that students' refrigerators are not kept cold enough, adding,
"They should keep the temperature 40 degrees Fahrenheit or below. Some pathogens thrive in cold temperatures."
Anyone want to comment on that?
McDonald's praised for handwashing and food safety
Howard Levitt, counsel to Lang Michener LLP, an employment lawyer who practises in seven Canadian provinces and author of The Law of Dismissal for Human Resources Professionals, writes that he is a McDonald's convert.
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Levitt says that rather then succumb to the human rights "police," McDonald's fought back to protect the right of Canadians to eat safe food. It and Canadians lost.
What Levitt learned from this decision is McDonald's is a stickler for cleanliness: Employees must wash their hands after every break, after cleaning their work area, before entering the production area, before putting on gloves, after shaking hands, after touching a door handle and on it goes. It is so focused on being sanitary that apart from all the previously mentioned instances, a bell goes off every hour, telling employees to wash their hands.
Besides good corporate citizenry, this reflects the law. It ensured McDonalds complied with the B.C. Health Act and the B.C. Centre for Disease Control's Food Protection Guidelines.
But Beena Dat could not comply. A skin condition prevented her from wearing gloves or regularly washing her hands. She went on disability and unsuccessfully attempted to return to work three separate times. Her specialist, Dr. Kit-son, opined he had no doubt, if she attempted to return to work, her "hands would disintegrate in a week." She could not return to any job involving exposure to soap and water, in his view, thereby eliminating "restaurant work of any kind."
Dat complained to the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal who appointed Judy Parrack to decide the case, who decided Mc-Donald's should have cross-examined the specialist rather than taking his medical report at face value.
She also considered whether it was possible pieces of different jobs could have been extracted to create a position Ms. Dat could perform without frequently having to wash her hands.
This is despite Ms. Parrack's acknowledging all jobs at Mc-Donald's require handwashing and, depending on how busy a section is, any position might quickly take over for another.
Notably, Ms. Parrack found McDonald's liable for not attempting to construct such a position and awarded $50,000 in damages, including $25,000 for injury to Ms. Dat's "dignity, feelings and self-respect."
Worst of all, McDonald's was ordered to "cease the discriminatory conduct or similar conduct and refrain from committing such conduct in the future." One might think consumer safety should supercede the right of an employee with unclean hands!
A colleague says maybe the judge should eat at McDonald's and be served only with dirty hands.
A Jason Lee stink palm pretzel, perhaps?
Dr. Dude, wash your hands
People concerned about hospital cleanliness in the U.K. are being urged to challenge health workers on whether they have washed their hands.
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Andrew Pike, chief executive of South East Essex Primary Care Trust, said,
"We would encourage people using health services to question any healthcare worker, whether in hospital or the community, if they have washed their hands."
Handwashing public service announcements from the International Food Safety Network are available at:
Handwashing public service announcements
Dude, wash your hands.
Proper handwashing with the proper tools -- soap, water and paper towel -- can significantly reduce the number of foodborne and other illnesses.
An audio public service announcement is available here.
People should be washing their hands before handling food and, for example:?
• after using the toilet;
• when entering the kitchen to prepare food;
• before handling ready-to-eat food;
• after handling any raw food;
• after changing diapers;
• after playing with or cleaning up after pets; and,
• after handling garbage.
The steps in proper handwashing, as concluded from the preponderance of available evidence, are:
• wet hands with water;
• use enough soap to build a good lather;
• scrub hands vigorously, creating friction and reaching all areas of the fingers and hands for at least 10 seconds to loosen pathogens on the fingers and hands;
• rinse hands with thorough amounts of water while continuing to rub hands; and,
• dry hands with paper towel.
Water temperature is not a critical factor -- water hot enough to kill dangerous bacteria and viruses would scald hands -- so use whatever is comfortable.
The friction from rubbing hands with paper towels helps remove additional bacteria and viruses.
Next time you visit a bathroom that is missing soap, water or paper towels, let someone in charge know. And next time you see someone skip out on the suds in the bathroom, look at them and say, “Dude, wash your hands!”
And Don't Eat Poop.
More reasons to say -- Dude, wash your hands
PHS Washrooms, based in Wales, has launched a world first in low energy hand-dryers - Airforcetm -- claiming that 22 percent of people in Wales fail to wash their hands after going to the loo, men are worse than women, and England is worse than Wales.(1).jpg)
According to the survey, 24 percent of people have witnessed people leaving the toilet daily without a visit to the sink – almost a third (29 percent) in the gents and just under 20 pecrent in the ladies.
In England, just under a quarter (24 percent) have witnessed daily ‘leavers’, whereas in Wales the figure is just over a fifth (22 percent).
The story says that Airforce has been designed by the world leader in hand dryers – World Dryer, in partnership with PHS Washrooms, the UK leading washroom services provider.
The friction from drying hands with paper towel works better.
The best places to poop in Canada
When I became editor-in-chief of The Ontarian, the University of Guelph student newspaper way back in 1987, one of the first stories I did was to rate the bathrooms at various local bars.
The paper lost thousands of dollars in advertising from disgruntled bar owners.
We found new advertisers, and the idea is still going strong.
powderroom.ca has launched a national, interactive map that allows Canadians to chart their favourite restrooms across the country, evaluating each one on a five-star system that reflects overall accessibility, cleanliness, lineups, location and decor.
Canada.com reports that although the online map is part of a campaign to promote awareness of overactive bladder, a condition affecting 12 to 18 per cent of Canadians, it's likely to benefit anyone planning a road trip - especially those accompanied by kids.
A similar effort already has proven successful in Australia where, since 2001, the government-funded National Toilet Map has given folks the loo lowdown on roughly 14,000 private and public bathrooms in the area.
Every bathroom should have running water, soap and toilet paper. If it doesn't, let someone in charge know.
Do 'Employees Must Wash Hands' signs keep the piss out of happy meals?
Jon Stewart did an admirable job hosting the Oscar's last night, although he's better on The Daily Show.
One of his best lines, however, comes from a 2002 hosting gig on Saturday Night Live, where he said,
“If you think the 10 commandments being posted in a school is going to change behavior of children, then you think “Employees Must Wash Hands” is keeping the piss out of your happy meals. It's not.”
That came to mind as I read Friday's N.Y. Times blog entry about handwashing and the lack of soap at Socialista where some celebrities now are being encouraged to keep hepatitis A shots.
Jennifer Lee writes that “Employees Must Wash Hands Before Returning to Work,” signs are required by the city health code in all bathrooms in restaurants and bars. Sometimes the signs are in Spanish and Chinese, as well as English.
The Health Department issued a Hepatitis A warning on Thursday after discovering there was no soap behind the bar at Socialista, a code violation, when it found that a bartender who worked there was infected with Hepatitis A.
City Room called up the Soap and Detergent Association, a Washington-based industry trade association, to get their thoughts on the missing soap.
Brian Sansoni, the association’s vice president of communications, was quoted as saying,
“Surely a place that charges $12 for a cocktail can afford a 99-cent container of liquid soap. … Soap-making was known as early as 2800 B.C, It’s not necessarily a new technology. … You can get soap in bar form, liquid form, foam. It’s not like we’re trying to find Kryptonite here. We’re talking about soap. As basic as soap is, we hear too many cases of too many places with not enough soap.”
Proper handwashing first requires access to proper tools: running water, soap, and paper towel.
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Nurse? Did you wash your hands?
The Irish Hospital Consultants Association plans to protest to the HSE about its current advertising campaign asking patients to ask health professionals whether they have washed their hands.
Irish Health reports that the campaign has met with a mixed reaction from the public, judging by the latest irishhealth.com viewers' poll results. One viewer says she has even complained to the Broadcasting Complaints Commission about the advertising campaign. (To view the full results and comments click on...http://www.irishhealth.com/poll.html?pollid=423 )
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HSE Assistant National Director for Health Protection Dr Kevin Kelleher said evidence shows that hand hygiene is the single most effective defence against the spread of MRSA.
Donal Duffy, Assistant Secretary General of the IHCA, told irishhealth.com,
"They (consultants) find it gratuitously insulting, given that the campaign effectively accuses consultants of not washing their hands."
Janette Byrne of the Patients Together organization, said,
"If you are feeling very sick it would be difficult to have the worry of asking staff about their hand hygiene. We feel that the full responsibility for this should be placed on hospital staff, and it is not fair to put this burden on the patient. … Many people would struggle to confront a doctor or nurse on this issue and we feel the campaign is very much a case of the HSE passing the buck."
Washing your hands, California style
Doug and I are in L.A. for a few days and I’ve appreciated the prominent handwashing signs in public and private lavatories. This one comes from the outdoor Public Restroom off the beach at the famous Gladstone’s of Malibu seafood restaurant. I read the sign when I walked into the bathroom, but when I tried to wash my hands, the water came out of the faucet in a tiny trickle. The water pressure in their indoor/private facility was slightly better but still conservative. It’s impressive to have signage that indicates all the different times when one should wash her hands, but if the facilities are lacking, there isn’t much point.
The second sign, found today at a beach café in Long Beach, CA was also interesting because the Spanish appears larger than the English part. I also like the idea that I’m breaking state law if I do not wash my damn hands before returning to work.
Michele Samarya-Timm, guest barfblogger: Hillary Clinton loves handwashing
On 60 Minutes this week, Hillary Clinton stated: My two secrets to staying healthy: wash your hands all the time. And, if you can't, use Purell or one of the sanitizers."
Great statement, but should handwashing be a health "secret?"
Wouldn't it be so beneficial to all Americans if our presidential hopefuls spent time concentrating on spreading a campaign message that would really matter - the importance of regular handwashing? After all, isn't handwashing universal healthcare at its most fundamental level?
And wouldn't it be wonderful if every political debate included statements on how a national handwashing campaign is needed for the protection of all Americans? And if funding of handwashing campaigns was a prime component in every politician's platform?
Hillary's handwashing admission is a start, but it's doubtful anyone will change their hand hygiene behaviors based on one statement by one politician. In the interim, we all need to keep on spreading our handwashing platform, until the message causes real change around us.
I'm glad America received a 5-second sound bite on handwashing. However, it is consistent handwashing actions and handwashing messages that speak volumes. When it comes to public health, I'll always vote for soap.
--
Michéle Samarya-Timm is a Health Educator for the Franklin Township Health Department in New Jersey.
Dude, wash your hands
Proper handwashing with the proper tools -- soap, water and paper towel -- can significantly reduce the number of foodborne and other illnesses.
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So says the International Food Safety Network.
People should be washing their hands before handling food and, for example:
• after using the toilet;
• when entering the kitchen to prepare food;
• before handling ready-to-eat food;
• after handling any raw food;
• after changing diapers;
• after playing with or cleaning up after pets; and,
• after handling garbage.
The steps in proper handwashing, as concluded from the preponderance of available evidence, are:
• wet hands with water;
• use enough soap to build a good lather;
• scrub hands vigorously, creating friction and reaching all areas of the fingers and hands for at least 10 seconds to loosen pathogens on the fingers and hands;
• rinse hands with thorough amounts of water while continuing to rub hands; and,
• dry hands with paper towel.
Water temperature is not a critical factor -- water hot enough to kill dangerous bacteria and viruses would scald hands -- so use whatever is comfortable.
The friction from rubbing hands with paper towels helps remove additional bacteria and viruses.
Next time you visit a bathroom that is missing soap, water or paper towels, let someone in charge know. And next time you see someone skip out on the suds in the bathroom, look at them and say, “Dude, wash your hands!”
And Don't Eat Poop.
Hand gels alone may not curb infections
Medical workers in a Nebraska hospital nearly doubled their use of alcohol-based gels, but their generally cleaner hands had no bearing on the rate of infections among patients, according to a new study in the January issue of Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology.
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Dr. Mark Rupp, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Nebraska Medical Center pointed to many villains: Rings and fingernails that are too long and hard to clean, poor handling of catheters and treatment areas that aren't sanitized.
"Hand hygiene is still important, but it's not a panacea. … There are many factors that influence the development of hospital-acquired infections. It would be naive to think that a single, simple intervention would fix this problem."
The findings of the new study were based on 300 hours of hand hygiene observations of nurses and doctors in two comparable intensive care units over a two-year period.
UK children 'avoid school toilets'
UK children are avoiding unpleasant school toilets where they fear being targeted by bullies.
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Further, many toilets are closed for long periods during the school day while others are in such poor condition that pupils would rather wait until they get home.
The British Cleaning Council warned that some children were developing continence problems as a result.
Steve Wright, chairman of the British Cleaning Council, said,
"Clean, safe, equipped and accessible toilets are becoming high on children's wish lists. But many UK schools are failing to provide this. Children are just as entitled as adults to clean toilet facilities. Poor hygiene in loos can lead to increased infections such as bacterial diarrhoea and Hepatitis A."
The group backed the Bog Standard campaign, which is calling for better toilet facilities in schools.
Really, wash your damn hands
Michele Samarya-Timm, a health educator with the Franklin Township Health Department and guest barfblogger, told New Jersey's Home News Tribune,
"We need a national handwashing campaign. We need it on hand towels and billboards. We need to market it on video games and commercials. We need to have rock songs about handwashing."
Couldn't agree more. Wash your hands. And if a restroom doesn't have the proper tools -- soap, water, paper towel -- be sure to let someone know. Proper handwashing requires access to proper tools.
Don't eat poop. Wash your hands..jpg)
Wash your damn hands (and don't eat poop)
Researchers were cited as saying on Wednesday that, based on a review of 14 different studies, encouraging people to wash their hands properly can reduce the rate of diarrhea by 30 percent, in rich and poor countries alike.
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Dr. Regina Ejemot of the University of Calabar in Nigeria, who led the study, said,
"This is a huge benefit. For people in low-income areas this effect is comparable to providing clean water. The challenge is to find ways of promoting handwashing, as well as to set up long-term trials that test whether good practice has become part of a person's way of life."
Canadians learn to wash hands -- for $16 million
The Canadian province of Alberta will spend $16 million to promote handwashing..jpg)
Calgary Herald columnist Don Braid says your mother always told you to wash your hands, but she never tried to charge you $16 million for the advice.
Braid adds that the recipients of this advice will be the province's many thousands of health-care employees. Didn't they listen to their mothers?
Asked what all that money would buy, Health Minister Dave Hancock shrugged, sort of, and said, "sinks."
Safe Food Cafe - Handwashing in the produce industry
This handwashing and good hygiene video is a few years old. It was produced by one time ifsn-ers Christian and Katija. It is intended for workers in the produce industry, but the handwashing techniques can be applied to anyone that handles food.
Preventative handwashing limits pissed off passengers
The Evening Standard reports that 78 passengers have been stricken with norovirus and confined to their cabins on what has been dubbed The 'Curse of Camilla' cruise ship on only its second cruise.
The passengers, including former Formula 1 motor-racing champion Sir Jackie Stewart, dubbed the Canary Islands trip the "cruise from hell" after complaining about poor room service, blocked toilets, a lack of Christmas decorations, cold food and extra charges for tea and coffee. They complained hygiene standards were "appalling" and that the outbreak was connected to poor food handling.
Passengers said it was only after the virus struck that Cunard provided alcohol-based hand gel to combat its spread – by which time it was too late.
Jean Trainor, 49, from Blackburn, Lancashire, said,
"No hygiene rules were implemented until people fell ill. If they had been, maybe this could have been avoided. There has also been problems with lavatories not flushing. Everyone I've spoken to is pissed off, including the crew because they're having to put up with all the guests moaning. I resent having paid £7,500 to be on this cruise. I'll never sail on the Queen Vic again."
Ron Wade, 71, from South Lanarkshire, said,
"I was very surprised that nobody was being told that they must wash their hands in antiseptic lotion as a matter of course. Since people became ill, we have all been advised not to use the public loos to stop the spread of the virus. Unfortunately, some of the loos in our cabins have been blocked."
The Evening Standard says that when Cunard's £300million MS Queen Victoria luxury liner was officially launched by Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall in Southampton three weeks ago, the bottle of champagne failed to smash against the bow, prompting superstitious speculation that the ship was cursed.
Maybe. Or maybe cruise ships and their staff need to go out of their way to encourage handwashing and hygiene. And proper handwashing requires access to proper tools; before the outbreak happens.
Proper handwashing still requires proper tools
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It's a message that goes unheeded -- at home and abroad.
Research published in the New Zealand Medical Journal found almost 20 percent of men, and 8 percent of women didn't wash their hands after going to the toilet.
But what's worse says New Zealand Public Health Association (PHA) Director Dr Gay Keating is that some schools have appalling washroom facilities, and it is often not possible for students to wash and dry their hands properly – even if they want to.
"Sometimes there is no soap, let alone hot water, and children are expected to wash their hands in freezing water, even in the middle of winter. There may be no paper towels, or hand dryers.
"This is a great disincentive to proper hand washing, and pupils who do not wash their hands properly are at greater risk of contracting illnesses themselves, or passing on bugs. They then have to have days off school, which recent educational research has shown often leads to them falling behind in school work. …
“Hand-hygiene is basic to maintaining good health.”
Dr Keating says all schools should provide pupils with soap, warm water and hand-drying facilities.
New International Food Safety Network Podcast -- Week of 10/19/07
This week in the podcast we highlight:
- Salmonella - Minnesota
- Recent lawsuits relating to recent recalls and outbreaks
- Handwashing
People don't wash hands on television
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Tracy Hughes has a bone to pick with television shows.
People rarely wash their hands
Hughes writes in British Columbia's Salmon Arm Observer that,
on medical dramas, you almost never see hand-washing unless it is a top-notch surgeon scrubbing up before he goes into the operating room and a nurse whispers some tragic secret to him just before he has to complete the first-ever super-duper, resection of the quadruple nerve -ending bypass.
What really gets Hughes is the number of scenes that place characters in washrooms and they don’t wash -- even after they use the toilet.
I agree. When we looked at TV chefs a few years ago, very few washed their hands. There was a food safety infraction on average every four minutes.
Kids should be allowed hand sanitizer
"We have been wanting to put hand sanitizers in schools," said Lorri Pilkington, coordinator for health and nursing services for Leon County schools, "but we want to do it safely and with the blessings of all the agencies that are involved with the school system."
The "agencies of concern" are the Florida Department of Health, the Department of Education and the state Fire Marshal's Office, who are afraid that the high alcohol content of the sanitizers may be a hazard for starting fires or poisoning the children.
Considering the horrible E. coli poisoning of the children Galena Elementary School last month, I'd prefer they let the teachers have had sanitizer. And just keep them away from open flames.
Michele Samarya-Timm, guest barfblogger: Handwashing...it's in the hole
Reports of Bill Murray’s recent arrest for erratically driving a golf cart motivated me to dust off a copy of Caddyshack.
It’s a classic film...you know the scene…families leisurely at poolside, going for a swim, enjoying a summer’s day—an errant candy bar splashes in the midst of the bathers and when it is finally observed floating in the water someone screams…
Doodie! Doodie!!
The languid setting suddenly switches to one of shock, repulsion and pandemonium as everyone subsequently rushes to distance themselves from the buoyant turd. Yup, I could see something similar happening in real life. How easily the public is repelled when a potential threat is so conspicuous.
Aw…don’t touch it!
The raucous distancing the scene portrays is not far from what would happen in reality…if poop was always so visible. But “poop” and a host of other micro flora undesirables are not always so discernable in the pool or on our hands. The ubiquitous reality of pathogens such as Norovirus, shigella, staph, and a quantity of others hitchhiking on our skin should be cause for a similar reaction – but towards the nearest supply of soap and water. Convincing others of the importance of clean hands would be easier if potential contaminants were always so clearly visible and distasteful.
Turds. Double turds.
Observational studies continue to show us that when contaminants are out of sight, handwashing is out of mind. What better time than National Clean Hands Week and National Food Safety Education Month to renew our efforts to motivate others to get rid of doodie and other unwanted flora on their hands?
It’s no big deal.
Yes it is. Yeah, maybe Bill Murray could be the poster child for “Don’t Eat Poop.” But so should we. Keep reminding, keep educating, and keep upholding the practice of using soap and water to distance us from pathogens.
When it comes to handwashing, we all need to “be the ball.”
Related websites:
Food Safety Education Month: http://www.foodsafety.gov/~fsg/september.html
National Clean Hands Week: www.cleanhandscoalition.org
Michéle Samarya-Timm is a Health Educator for the Franklin Township Health Department in New Jersey.
Handwashing: This is why observational research is important
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Ninety-one percent of American adults say they always wash their hands after using public restrooms. But just 83 percent actually did so, according to a separate observational study.
These results were among those released by the American Society for Microbiology (ASM) and The Soap and Detergent Association (SDA), during a press conference highlighting National Clean Hands Week. Both groups have used surveys over the years to help highlight a vital public health message from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC):
The single most important thing we can do to keep from getting sick and spreading illness to others is to clean our hands.
An August 2005 study conducted for ASM and SDA by Harris Interactive® observed 6,336 individuals wash their hands – or not – at six public attractions in four major cities: Atlanta (Turner Field), Chicago (Museum of Science and Industry, Shedd Aquarium), New York City (Grand Central Station, Penn Station), and San Francisco (Ferry Terminal Farmers Market).
Ninety percent of the women observed washed their hands, compared to 75 percent of men. By contrast, in an August 2005 telephone survey of 1,013 American adults also conducted by Harris Interactive®, 97 percent of women and 96 percent of men say they always or usually wash their hands after using a public restroom.
USA Today reported the dirty details as:
* Atlanta's Turner Field baseball stadium again was the worst. Only 57% of guys there washed up, compared to 95% of women.
* New York was Second City to Chicago in cleanliness. In restrooms at the Windy City's Shedd Aquarium and Museum of Science and Industry, 81% of men and women combined washed their hands, compared to 79% at the Big Apple's Penn and Grand Central train stations.
• At San Francisco's Ferry Terminal Farmers Market, 62.5% of men lathered up. Women did better, with 84%.
Wash your hands and dry with paper towel...
Except when the paper towel dispenser has been lit on fire.
According to the Kansas State Collegian today
a fire was started in Aggieville at O’Malley’s Alley on Sunday around 8 p.m. when someone lit the paper towel dispenser in the restroom. If you really hate paper towel that much, it might be safer (although not more sanitary) to use an air dryer (see Doug’s letter to the editor of the Manhattan Mercury posted below). Visit donteatpoop.com for more handwashing information.
**photo is from the K-State Collegian, credited to Steven Doll**
***Letter to the editor***
29.dec.06
Manhattan Mercury
p. A6
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that up to 25 per cent of the 76 million annual cases of foodborne illness in the U.S. could be eliminated with proper handwashing.
Based on the available evidence, proper handwashing consists of:
o wet hands with water;
o use soap;
o lather all over hands by scrubbing vigorously, creating friction, reaching all areas of the hands, wrists and between fingers, and counting to at least fifteen; o rinse hands; and, o dry hands, preferably with paper towel.
The all-in-one handwashing units at the Manhattan Town Center and K-State student union restrooms may be insufficient to control the spread of dangerous microorganisms (Look, Ma, no handles, Manhattan Mercury, Dec. 28/06). The washing time before the hand dryer is activated appears inadequate, as does the drying procedure itself. Any remaining moisture can support bacterial growth, or can limit people from washing their hands in the first place (who wants damp hands?). Anecdotal reports from campus reveal that some find the units inconvenient and that soap sometimes misses hands when being dispensed.
One research study found that average bacterial counts were reduced when towels (either cloth or paper) were used to dry hands, the most significant decrease being with paper towels; hot air dryers produced a highly significant increase in all bacteria on hands.
Another study concluded that dangerous bacteria could survive handwashing with soap and water if hands were not dried thoroughly with paper towels. The friction created when drying hands with paper towel removes additional microorganisms.
Proper handwashing begins with access to proper tools. That is why paper towels are a necessary addition to any public bathroom.
Sincerely,
Doug Powell
Associate Professor
KSU Food Safety Network
1729 Pierre St
785-317-0560
dpowell@ksu.edu
Antibacterial or regular soap?
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Proper handwashing requires access to the proper tools -- soap, water and paper towel.
But what soap is best?
Allison Aiello, an assistant professor of epidemiology at the University of Michigan School of Public Health, was cited as telling the Los Angeles Times that antibacterial soaps may give consumers an added sense of security, but "they don't seem to provide a benefit above and beyond ordinary soap."
Aiello and colleagues recently surveyed 27 separate studies that investigated the effectiveness of soaps containing triclosan. Some studies looked at rates of infectious diseases; others measured levels of bacteria that lingered on hands after washing. As the researchers will report in an upcoming issue of the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases, they found no evidence that antibacterial soaps prevent more illnesses or remove more germs than regular soap.
Aiello also points to several laboratory studies suggesting that triclosan can help bacteria build up resistance to commonly used antibiotics such as methicillin and erythromycin. Because of these potential risks, Aiello says, regular soap would be a better choice.
But Emily Sickbert-Bennett, a public health epidemiologist at the University of North Carolina School of Public Health who has studied antibacterial soaps, was quoted as telling The Times there's "no good evidence" that triclosan has encouraged antibiotic resistance in the real world. She says consumers can safely use antibacterial soaps without worrying about creating super-bugs.
Jamba Juice jolt
Martin Fenstersheib, the chief medical officer for Santa Clara County, was cited as saying on Thursday that about 4,000 customers could be at risk after a worker at a Jamba Juice store in San Jose, California, developed hepatitis A, adding,
"During the time she was infectious, she was also working at Jamba Juice, so we were concerned that even though there is a corporate policy of good hand washing, you can't be 100 percent sure."
Paul Clayton, Jamba Juice's chief executive, was quoted as saying in a statement,
"Jamba Juice will pay eligible individuals, who satisfy the reimbursement requirements, their reasonable, out-of-pocket medical expenses related to the diagnosis and treatment of hepatitis A."
Wash your hands. And don't serve poop.
Wash your hands ... and don't serve poop
Researchers from the University of Michigan report in the Sept. 1 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases that washing hands with an antibacterial soap was no more effective at reducing bacterial levels or preventing illness than washing with ordinary soap, and that those soaps containing the antimicrobial triclosan, produced worrisome antibiotic cross-resistance among different species of ba