your safety
5
Things You Can Do To
Prevent Infection
Avoiding contagious diseases like the com- the germs can travel 3 feet or more! Cover
mon cold, strep throat, and the flu is impor- your mouth and nose to prevent the spread
tant to everyone. Here are five easy things of infection to others.
you can do to fight the spread of infection. • Use a tissue! Keep tissues handy at home,
at work and in your pocket. Be sure to
1. Clean your hands. throw away used tissues and clean your
• Use soap and warm water. Rub your hands hands after coughing or sneezing.
really well for at least 15 seconds. Rub • If you don’t have a tissue, cover your
your palms, fingernails, in between your mouth and nose with the bend of your
fingers, and the backs of your hands. elbow or hands. If you use your hands,
• Or, if your hands do not look dirty, clean clean them right away.
them with alcohol-based hand sanitizers.
Rub the sanitizer all over your hands, 4. If you are sick, avoid close contact
especially under your nails and between with others.
your fingers, until your hands are dry. • If you are sick, stay away from other
• Clean your hands before touching or eating. people or stay home. Don’t shake hands
Clean them after you use the bathroom, or touch others.
take out the trash, change a diaper, visit • When you go for medical treatment, call
someone who is ill, or play with a pet. ahead and ask if there’s anything you
can do to avoid infecting people in the
2. Make sure health care providers waiting room.
clean their hands or wear gloves.
• Doctors, nurses, dentists and other health 5. Get shots to avoid disease and
care providers come into contact with lots fight the spread of infection.
of bacteria and viruses. So before they treat Make sure that your vaccinations are cur-
you, ask them if they’ve cleaned their hands. rent—even for adults. Check with your doc-
• Health care providers should wear clean tor about shots you may need. Vaccinations
gloves when they perform tasks such as are available to prevent these diseases:
taking throat cultures, pulling teeth, • Chicken pox • Mumps
taking blood, touching wounds or body • Measles • Diphtheria
fluids, and examining your mouth or • Tetanus • Hepatitis
private parts. Don’t be afraid to ask them • Shingles • Meningitis
if they should wear gloves. • Flu (also known as influenza)
• Whooping cough (also known as Pertussis)
3. Cover your mouth and nose. • German measles (also known as Rubella)
Many diseases are spread through sneezes • Pneumonia (Streptococcus pneumoniae)
and coughs. When you sneeze or cough, • Human papillomavirus (HPV)
Source: The Joint Commission’s Speak Up Program (www.jointcommission.org)
the patient magazine 2010 13
PT013__0FVP0_SP10REQprevent.indd 13 2/3/10 3:45 PM
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