Simple steps to prevent outbreak of H1N1 flu

Aug 29 2009

Dr. Will Sawyer, a Family Medicine physician in Cincinnati, Ohio, is VERY concerned that the American public is NOT getting adequate information on how to PREVENT local severe outbreaks of the Novel H1N1 Flu (Swine Flu)! Sawyer's advice includes, crucially, "Do NOT Touch the 'T Zone'" comprised of eyes, nose and mouth, to prevent contamination (inoculation) of mucus membranes, which are the portal of entry into the respiratory and gastro-intestinal system for this and many other viruses. Health Canada in Ontario, Canada, talks about this key strategy for prevention of Novel H1N1 Flu (Swine Flu), so why don't we here in the US? School administrators and nurses are focused on how to check students' temperatures to decide who goes home, but should devote much more thought to the critical elements necessary to PREVENT the spread of infectious diseases in their schools.

We HAVE the solution to PREVENT Novel H1N1 Flu (Swine Flu) from closing down schools. Follow these 4 simple steps to protect your school:

1. Have everyone -- administrators, faculty, staff and students -- wash, rub or wipe their hands EVERY time they enter the school.

2. Reinforce the simple, vital prohibition: "Do NOT Touch the T Zone!"

3. Practice and Reiterate the 4 Principles of Hand Awareness in the School, using peer pressure and Positive Deviance (discovering uncommon practices/behaviors enabling or finding better solutions to the problem than the others in their "community").

4. Utilize Henry the Hand Champion Handwasher as a GREETER at every entrance to your facility, as a change agent. This will raise "Hand Awareness" (hand hygiene, respiratory etiquette and cross contamination awareness) for EVERY member of the school community.

Encourage students to utilize peer pressure and to remember that their hands are vectors for transmission of germs (definition per NIAID) or transmission of germs (definition per CDC), two definitions for reference.

These simple steps have been proven to decrease the spread of viral illnesses.

Remember: "Spread the word, not the germs!"