One of the easiest and most important ways to prevent the spread of germs or infections is by simply washing your hands properly.  This is especially important for people who commute or during big travel seasons when people get together for parties and other celebrations.  Germs can spread very easily by simply touching a person or contaminated objects or surfaces and then touching your face. 

Why is washing your hands so important?

When people don't wash their hands they can spread a number of illnesses, including the common cold.  Each year, the cold accounts for roughly 22 million missed school days and 20 million sick days from work.  Although there is no way to completely get rid of germs, frequent hand-washing can significantly limit the spread of viruses, bacteria and other microbes but only when done properly.

The CDC offers the following hand-washing guidelines:

• Place hands under clean, running water
• Add soap and rub hands together until suds form
• Scrub on every surface for at least 20 seconds (the amount of time it takes to sing "Happy Birthday" twice), including both sides, between fingers and under fingernails
• Rinse hands again under running water and dry with a clean dry towel or air-dry

To avoid getting sick, the CDC suggests that hands should always be washed before:

·         preparing food or eating

·         treating cuts or other wounds

·         handling medicine or caring for someone sick

·         touching contact lenses

and after:

·         handling raw meat and poultry

·         using the bathroom or changing a diaper

·         touching animals or pet toys, leashes or waste

·         coughing, sneezing or nose blowing

·         treating wounds or caring for a sick person

·         carrying garbage

·         chemicals or anything that could be contaminated

·         using public transportation

When soap and water are not available, alcohol-based hand sanitizers that contain at least 60 percent alcohol can effectively clean hands.

Besides washing hands, what other preventative measures can you take to avoid getting sick?

1. Eat more yogurt: Probiotics found in yogurt, are good bacteria that keep the gut and intestines healthy.  Research has found that yogurt, owing to these probiotic properties, stimulates the production of white blood cells, fending off colds.

2. Get more Sleep: Lack of sleep can increase inflammation and inhibit the immune response by altering the way your genes function.  Not getting enough sleep increases your chances of catching colds and the flu.  Sleep also helps the body induce a better fever response to kill infection, when we don’t sleep the body has a hard time fighting infection this way.

3. Avoid excessive drinking: Alcohol suppresses your immune system at a rate that is proportional to the amount you consume.  This means the more drinks you have, the bigger blow to your immune system.  Alcohol triggers a flood of cytokine proteins that induce fever and inflammation.  Alcohol also suppresses the ability for white blood cells to multiply and subsequently fend off a cold.