Michéle Samarya-Timm, a registered environmental health specialist with the Somerset County Department of Health in New Jersey (represent) writes:

The recent New Zealand study that most people are not properly containing their coughs and sneezes comes as no surprise, as I still see air sneezes wherever I go.

Look around. Children have been taught – and are following -- proper respiratory etiquette by covering their coughs and sneezes. It’s the adults we need to reach for disease prevention behavioral change. As we talk about doing the “Dracula sneeze” maybe its time to reach adults by tapping into our inner children and bring those of my generation back to what we learned when our role models had googley eyes, and skin of orange, purple or blue felt.

Close your eyes, and hum Sunny Day- Sweepin' the clouds away…

And there we are with Count von Count – who should be the poster child for the “Dracula Sneeze.” Early on (circa 1971) we see him counting flowers – because flowers make one sneeze. Then we can count the sneezes (Ah-ha-ha-ha!). Unfortunately, Count doesn’t use his hands. Or his cape. Or anything to catch his sneezes. But he could be useful counting 20 seconds of handwashing… (20 *Wonderful* seconds!) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQC82okzTXI

And sneezes can be contagious. Especially in groups. The Sneeze Song illustrated that – with cows, chickens and swine. Not a good prospect to think that the shopping mall, the train station or the barnyard could have a plethora of airborne diseases from indiscriminate sneezing. With an end message of “cover your coughs and sneezes” this clip could be a generation-catching public service announcement. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgD27p9uJ0k

At least Ernie and Bert recognize sneezing etiquette. Ernie has been known to offer his handkerchief to Bert. It’s what friends do. (That, and put their noses back on.) And remember, Ernie knows about personal cleanliness. After all, when we first met him in 1969 Ernie was scrubbing to get clean. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6rWY-aGVe0 Ernie’s penchant for cleanliness brought us some great handwashing songs. Forget the ABC’s …singing “everybody wash” encourages all around you to join in with good, clean and considerate handwashing fun.

Still not convinced that the Children’s Television Workshop has the makings to remind us old timers to cough and sneeze into the crook of our arms? Enlist Kermit the Frog – who really (really!) loves his elbows:

I love my elbows!
They really top my list
I love my elbows,
Even more than my wrists

We teach people to sing when handwashing…maybe we’d make some progress if we ask them to hum like Kermit while sneezing?

And if you don’t know what a sneeze is, just ask Guy Smiley and the panel on What’s My Part? The nose knows (but still could use a partnering elbow.) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XfFJVkcNdg

Obviously, I’m a child of the Sesame Street generation. The Muppets taught us lifetime lessons – sharing, counting (in Spanish, too!), the people in our neighborhood, how to handle a Grouch, and that sometimes things are not like the others.

Maybe we should consider using bits from our youth – like the Sesame Street format and characters -- to bring healthy messages to an older audience.

Rebranding some scenes from our youth can use our nostalgia to encourage a grown-up culture of cough-etiquette antics. I love my elbows. Everybody wash. And if you sneeze incorrectly, you don’t get your nose back.

Who buys a hand sanitizer named Bee-Shield; is it also an insect repellant?

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Friday that $230,000 worth of hand sanitizing gel made by Puerto Rico Beverage Inc. of Maunabo and distributed by Lord Pharmaceutical, LLC, doing business as Bee International Distributors was seized the day before.

The hand sanitizer is distributed only in Puerto Rico.

The product Bee-Shield Hand Sanitizer with Aloe Vera (10 fl. oz. or 1 gallon bottles) is an unapproved new drug and in violation of federal law

The gel was marketed as a product that could kill 99.99 percent of viruses, bacteria, and fungi. However, its safety and effectiveness have not been established. Additionally, the active ingredient, benzalkonium chloride, is not recognized as safe and effective for over-the-counter (OTC) antifungal use, making it noncompliant with FDA’s final monograph for OTC topical antifungal drug products.

The product also represents that it prevents the disease caused by the H1N1 influenza virus, that it is effective against viruses and provides extended antimicrobial efficacy. The FDA is unaware of any scientific evidence to support these claims.

On March 3, 2010, the FDA warned consumers not to use this product because it contained high levels of a bacterium, Burkholderia cepacia, that can cause serious infections in humans.
 

It was awesome when the Canadian women won ice hockey gold at the winter Olympics in Vancouver earlier this year – or for my World Cup obsessed South American students, the what Olympics? – and OK when the Canadian men won gold, but I still say Vancouver is a dump of a town. Always has been.

A new study reported by the Vancouver Sun found that failed handwashing audits for health-care facilities within the Vancouver Island Health Authority produced "disappointing" and "unacceptable" results, according to the head of patient safety.

Doctors were the worst, with a compliance rate of 18 per cent (same percentage seen in other studies).

The health authority improved over last year's scores of 15 per cent, but, considering the intensive handwashing campaign launched in the face of H1N1 influenza and the increasing number of outbreaks at various facilities, staff members need to do better, according to Dr. Martin Wale, executive medical director of quality and patient safety.

A fellow food safety nerd wrote to tell me he spent Sunday at the zoo with his wife and two young children, and was amazed at the various public health practices that do or do not exist when mixing children, animals, and food, all in the same place.

Ironically – or maybe like the Alanis song, more of a coincidence – Sorenne and I were chilling to Special Agent Oso while chowing on some oatmeal and berries and it was the petting zoo episode.

Amy has already written about this episode because, like most children’s television series, a dozen original episodes are produced and then replayed incessantly.

Washed hands before feeding the llama reduces disease transmission from humans to animals; washing hands after feeding the llama reduces disease transmission from animals to humans: diseases go both ways. The kid in this episode got it right, with handwashing before and after.

Useless trivia: Special Agent Oso, the unique stuffed bear, is voiced by Sean Astin, the movie actor known for roles in The Goonies, Rudy, Lord of the Rings, and as the steroid abusing dim-witted brother in 50 First Dates.