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BellaOnline's Family Health Editor

Protecting your family from germs

Millions of harmful germs and bacteria live on the surfaces we touch during everyday life. To prevent the spread of germs and illness, it is important to:

1. Wash your hands a few times throughout the day, and especially after handling something that contains bacteria.

2. Take off your shoes, and wash your hands when you get home. Make this the first thing you do before touching anything. This is important. This habit will prevent germs from being transferred from the outside world, into your home and its furnishings.


4. Use antibacterial wipes to clean surfaces in your home. They are simple, easy and affordable to use. Alcohol wipes are also available and helpful but use caution when using because they can discolor certain surfaces.

5. To clean your hands, use warm water and soap. Regular soap that cleans the skin well and rinses quickly is best. Ivory soap and Dawn are good examples of soaps that will leave your hands very clean. Take a minute and lather your hands. If the hands are very dirty, it is helpful to wash more than once to fully lift dirt and germs. Rinse well with warm water, and use a clean towel to dry with. Avoid damp towels because they can contain bacteria that can be transferred onto clean hands.

6. It's good to clean your phone, computer keyboard and mouse occasionally. You can use an antibacterial or alcohol wipe. This will eliminate germs and bacteria. Use caution when cleaning these items. Be careful not to drip the liquid into the phone or keyboard. Alcohol wipes work well for this, because the liquid dries quickly and has less chance of damaging the item.

7. Wash your hands before eating. If you are out and unable to wash your hands, try to use some of a liquid hand sanitizer before handling food and eating. Many germs enter the body through the mouth from our hands. Washing the hands helps to prevent this.





12. Cough and sneeze into a tissue if you can, to prevent the spread of airborne germs. Also avoid breathing where others sneeze or cough, as germs are expelled out of the mouth and into the air this way. This can protect you from breathing in germs from the air that can infect you with an illness.


14. When you are out of your home, it is helpful to wash your hands both before and after using the restroom. This prevents the possible transference of bacteria from your hands to your body.

15. It is also very important to wash the hands before sex. This is a healthy way to prevent the spread of germs and bacteria to intimate areas of the body, as well as the sensitive reproductive system.


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