December 3, 2012 

New pushes for safety in the medical community are attaining much needed goals of preventing disease transmission from patient to patient, called nosocomial infections.  According to the CDC, 99,000 people died in 2010 from a nosocomial infection.  Thankfully, this a big drop from previous years.

For years, doctors, nurses and hospital staff had transmitted dangerous infections from patient to patient.  The recognition that we were a portal of disease spread ushered in a time of no more white coats, ties and multiple use clothing.

As with the tremendous benefits provided by sanitation, food safety techniques and vaccines, we needed to focus on healthcare safety to meet the same ends.  I bring this topic up to encourage all of us to bring these techniques home as well.

Top 5 infectious disease prevention techniques for your family:

1) Most important - 15 second soapy hand wash - including the nails.  

2) If you work in a school or healthcare industry, remove your shoes and change clothing before going home or as soon as you enter your house.  Many microbes can live on your clothing for hours.  

3) Wash all fresh food thoroughly to prevent bacterial gastroenteritis.

4) Teach your children to sneeze into their bent elbow.

5) Keep your children home if they have had a fever within the last 24 hours.  

Prevention first,