Washing your hands with soap is a very cost-effective health intervention to reduce the burden of disease. Photo: unicefecu/Flickr, CC BY 2.0.
The SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus has infected over 90,000 people worldwide in an outbreak that has also given rise to an ‘infodemic’: an abundance of information, some accurate and some not, that makes it harder for people to find trustworthy sources and reliable guidance on responding to infections.
We’re a long way off from finding a cure for the virus’s disease, dubbed COVID-19, so prevention is our best bet to keep ourselves safe. Fortunately, this is easily done by maintaining good personal hygiene.
Infectious diseases are a leading cause of illness and death in tropical countries, including in India, but a few simple, wholly non-disruptive rituals can keep them at bay.
The healthier you are, the less likely you are to put yourself and people who might be at risk around you in danger.
These diseases are caused by microbes that enter our body through openings like the nose, mouth, ears, anus and genital passages or by penetrating the skin’s epidermal barrier. These microbes then deploy a variety of ‘exit strategies’ to ensure they’re transmitted from the body they’re in to another one, such as by shedding skin, sneezing, coughing, voiding of urine or faeces, etc.
What you can do
Wash your hands well
Washing your hands with soap is a very cost-effective health intervention to reduce the burden of disease. Washing your hands before preparing or eating food, after going to the bathroom, after coughing or sneezing, and after handling garbage goes a long way to prevent the spread of bacteria and viruses. If soap and water are not readily available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitiser with at least 60% alcohol, and cover all surfaces of your hands and rub them together until they feel dry.
Here’s the WHO’s guide to washing your hands properly (lightly paraphrased for clarity):
1. Wet your hands with clean water and apply enough soap to cover all surfaces
2. Rub your hands palm to palm
3. Rub right palm over left dorsum with interlocked fingers and vice versa
4. Rub palm to palm with fingers interlaced
5. Rub backs of fingers to opposing palms with fingers interlocked
6. Make rotational rubbing of left thumb clasped in right palm and vice versa
7. Perform rotational rubbing, backwards and forwards with clasped fingers of right hand in left palm and vice versa
8. Rinse hands well with clean running water
9. Dry hands thoroughly with a single-use towel
10. Use towel to turn off the faucet
Stop touching your face
Most people have a habit of unconsciously touching parts of their face while, say, talking to someone or while watching the TV. A 2015 study even found we touch our face two dozen times an hour on average, and 44% of such touching involves contact with eyes, the nose or the mouth.
Such contact paves the way for microbes to enter the body. Some of them remain localised to the first site of infection while others have the ability to invade tissues and spread to distant sites via the lymphatics, the blood or the nerves.
Cover a cough
Covering your mouth and nose with a tissue when you sneeze or cough can help disrupt transmission of infectious respiratory diseases. The act of coughing and sneezing releases a plethora of microorganisms, including viruses, bacteria and fungi, into the surrounding air, as well as little droplets of mucus or phlegm carrying them.
Always sneeze or cough into a tissue or paper towel, then dispose of the used membrane right away. If you don’t have a tissue with you, you can sneeze into the crook of your elbow, but certainly not into your hands.
Bathe regularly and take care of your fingernails
The general function of nails is to protect your fingertips. However, if they’re allowed to grow unchecked, they could trap and harbour dirt and germs, and help spread infections. So it’s important to clean and clip your fingernails.
Don’t share dishes, glasses or eating utensils
Diseases often spread on formites – inanimate objects other than food or water that are contaminated by infectious discharges from a patient and are capable of harbouring and transferring the infectious agent to a healthy person. Such formites include dishes, toys, utensils used by a patient, etc.
Take travel precautions
Before you travel, ensure you meet your doctor and get immunised if necessary. If you are unwell, avoid travel, and regularly check travel advisories from travel as well as state agencies.
Vaccines are important to avoid getting sick
Vaccines are one of the most effective tools to prevent infections. Don’t mind any of the misinformation and fake news doing the rounds, some of the deadliest diseases in history were brought under control with vaccines (and vaccines don’t cause diseases of their own). Since the novel coronavirus has been around only for a couple months, we don’t have a preventive vaccine for it yet – but we do for a variety of other diseases, and keeping them away could save our immune systems to focus on fighting COVID-19.
Stay home if you aren’t feeling well
Remember that you could put others at risk if you continue going to work even when you know something is wrong with your body. The best thing you can do in such a situation is to stay home.
Eat well and sleep well
Start eating healthy when in good shape. Supply your body with all the essential nutrients. Sleep well, at least for eight hours everyday, to make sure your immune system works at its full potential.
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Incorporating these best health practices in your daily routine can help tackle some of the most dangerous diseases Indians are at risk for. Taking care of yourself is in fact a very simple solution to a very complex problem.
Chinmay Haridas is an MBBS student from Nagpur.