Washing your hands regularly is very important for our health because it allows us to protect ourselves from the transmission of bacteria or viruses. To this end, however, proper hand hygiene must be adopted.
Bacteria and viruses are found everywhere in the environment around us; most of them are harmless to us because we are immune to their action. But there are also germs that can cause diseases. Many contagious diseases, such as influenza and intestinal infectious diseases, are transmitted by the hands. Bacteria and viruses enter the body through contact with eyes, nose or mouth. Washing your hands regularly and correctly reduces the number of germs. However, many do not adopt proper hand hygiene, which is why they continue to carry germs even after washing their hands.
What to pay attention
You do not need to wash your hands whenever you have come in contact with a person or an object, but it is essential to do so in certain situations. In particular, you have to wash your hands after going to the toilet or after returning home, as well as before and after meals. Hands should be washed even before and after cooking and, above all, when handling raw meat. If you have already cooled and sneezed, coughing or blowing your nose frequently, good hand hygiene is important to avoid infecting others.
Most people wash their hands too hastily and superficially: proper hand hygiene takes some time, i.e. from 20 to 30 seconds. It is therefore not sufficient to keep your hands briefly under running water. To guarantee the best hand hygiene, soap must be used (liquid is preferred). According to the Federal Office of Public Health, it is important to follow the correct hand hygiene procedure (moisten, soap, rinse and dry hands).
How to properly wash your hands
• Wet your hands under running water
• Soap your hands completely until foaming
• Rub and clean the palms and backs of the hands up to the wrists
• Also, clean the area between the fingers and under the nails
• Rinse the soap thoroughly under running water
• Dry your hands well with disposable paper