Stop the spread of germs

Last revised on March 26, 2020.

Healthy habits are important to protect yourself and others from potentially harmful germs. Germs are types of microbes, such as bacteria or viruses, which can cause diseases. They are spread directly from person to person, or indirectly by touching a surface that has been contaminated with them. Harmful germs can sometimes lead to serious illness, particularly in vulnerable populations such as young children, the elderly, or people with underlying medical conditions. To reduce the spread of germs and to prevent yourself and others from getting sick, Ottawa Public Health recommends that you:

Wash your hands with soap and water, or use hand sanitizer
Cover your coughs and sneezes with a tissue or your arm, not your hand
Stay home if you are sick
Get immunized

What is hand hygiene?

Hand hygiene is the most important way to prevent you and others from getting sick due to an infection. Hand hygiene refers to the cleaning of your hands by either washing them or applying alcohol-based hand rub. Consistently practicing good hand hygiene is essential to reduce the spread of infection in your at home, in daycares, schools, workplaces, and public places.

When should you clean your hands?

It is important to wash your hands:

Before, during, and after preparing food
Before eating food
Before and after caring for someone who is sick
Before and after treating a cut or wound
Before and after changing contact lenses
After using the toilet
After changing diapers or assisting a child who has used the toilet
After blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing
After being in a public place or outdoors
After touching an animal, feeding an animal, or picking up animal waste
After handling garbage

How should you clean your hands?

If you have soap and clean running water available, you can wash your hands to reduce the spread of germs. However, if soap and water are not available, you can use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol.

How to wash your hands with soap and water:

Wet your hands under warm, running water
Apply liquid soap
Lather and rub hands for 15 - 20 seconds (hint: if you don't have a timer, sing happy birthday twice!)
Rinse your hands
Towel or air dry your hands
Turn the taps off with a towel or your arm/sleeve

How to clean your hands with a hand sanitizer

Place a quarter-size drop of alcohol-based hand sanitizer in your palm
Rub your hands together, palm to palm
Rub the back of each hand with palm and fingers of the other hand
Rub around each thumb
Rub the fingertips of each hand, back and forth in the other hand
Rub until your hands are dry (15 - 20 seconds)

Quick tip: Applying a non-scented moisturizer to your hands daily will also help ensure your skin remains healthy and prevents chapping leading to optimal hand health!

Hand hygiene for children

To find out more about hand hygiene and children, you can go to: http://www.parentinginottawa.com/en/children/hygiene.asp)

The science behind hand hygiene

Germs are types of microbes which can cause diseases. Hand-to-hand contact between two people can spread germs that cause mild illnesses, such as the common cold, or more severe or life-threatening infections such as measles or meningitis. Even if your hands appear to be clean, they may still be carrying germs that can lead to illness. Good hand hygiene practices are important to prevent the spread of germs to others and to avoid getting sick yourself. Evidence shows that good hand hygiene:

Reduces the number of people who get sick with diarrhea by 31%1

Reduces the number of people who get sick with respiratory illness by 21%1

Hand hygiene Frequently Asked Questions

Why is hand washing the best way for you to reduce spread of germs?

Hand washing remains the best way for people to reduce the spread of germs in most situations because:

alcohol-based hand rubs are often used incorrectly by people; for example, they may not use an appropriate amount of ABHR or may wipe it off before it has dried
soap and water is more effective for killing certain types of germs
soap and water is more effective when hands are visibly soiled

Why should I wash my hands for 15 - 20 seconds?

While scientists are still expanding their evidence in this area, experts suggest that washing your hands for only 10 seconds does not allow enough time to achieve a good lather and enough friction to properly clean hands. Also, most people tend to overestimate how long they spend washing their hands, set a target to help make sure people wash their hands long enough for germs to be effectively removed.

Can I use alcohol-based hand rub when my hands have dirt on them?

Alcohol-based hand rub is not recommended for visibly soiled hands because the alcohol is inhibited by organic matter. If your hands are visibly dirty and no running water is available, use a moistened towelette to remove the visible soil and follow with alcohol-based hand rub.

Are alcohol-based hand sanitizers safe to use?

Yes, if used correctly. Using a quarter-size drop and rubbing hands for 15 - 20 seconds allows the alcohol content of the product to completely evaporate so there is no residue left on the hands.

Why do they recommend an alcohol-based hand rub with at least 60% alcohol?

Research has shown that alcohol-based hand rubs with an alcohol concentration between 60-95% are more effective at killing germs than those with a lower alcohol concentration2

Cover your coughs and sneezes with a tissue or your arm, not your hand

To stop the spread of germs that can make others sick, you should always cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when you cough or sneeze and put your used tissue in a waste basket. If you don't have a tissue, cough or sneeze into your upper sleeve, not your hand.

Why cover your coughs and sneezes?

Coughs can force out thousands of tiny droplets of saliva which can spread germs. In fact, 3,000 droplets are expelled in a single cough, and some of the droplets can fly out of your mouth at speeds of up to 50 miles per hour.1 Sneezes are even worse than coughs for spreading germs because they can produce as many as 40,000 tiny droplets of saliva which can exit your nose and mouth at speeds greater than 200 miles per hour.1 By covering your coughs and your sneezes, you can help prevent the spread of germs to others. Also, always remember to wash your hands after coughing or sneezing.

Stay home if you are sick

If it is possible, stay home from work or school when you are sick. Staying home helps prevent spreading your illness to others. In particular, young children, people over 65 years of age, and those with compromised immune systems are at greater risk of severe illness and even death from common viruses, such as influenza ("the flu").

Cleaning your home to prevent the spread of germs

Germs: Get them where they live.

Commonly touched surfaces and items should be cleaned and disinfected frequently (e.g. at least once a day) to limit the potential spread of germs.

Seek and find

When a bug strikes, it's likely to hide out in sneaky places -- and stay there a while. Flu viruses live on some surfaces for about 24 hours. Norovirus, a common cause of stomach bugs, can stick around for days or even weeks. And both are super contagious.

Clean first then disinfect

Wiping down a countertop with soapy water will get rid of some germs but if someone has the flu or diarrhea or is throwing up, you want to kill the germs, or disinfect. Look for a cleaner that specifically says “disinfectant” and follow the directions for use. Or another option is to mix 10 mL of bleach with 1 litre of water (or 2 tsp of bleach with 4 cups of water) to disinfect hard surfaces with 2 minute of contact time*.

In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, it would be reasonable to instead use a mixture of 20 mL of bleach with 1 litre of water (or 4 tsp of bleach with 4 cups of water) to disinfect hard surfaces with 1 minute of contact time. It is important to remember to make a fresh bleach solution each time you disinfect, or at least everyday.

*Note: The contact time, also known as the wet time, is the time that the disinfectant needs to stay wet on a surface to make sure it can kill all the germs. It is the length of time you leave the solution on the surface before wiping it down.

Cleaning

Germs love to hide in and on wet surfaces. That makes the kitchen or bathroom sponge the perfect tool for spreading sickness. If someone is sick, replace your sponge with a microfiber cloth instead. It soaks up bacteria and other germs better than a regular cotton cloth. If you want to clean with a sponge, wet it and put it in the microwave for 2 minutes before use.

Wear gloves, and wash your hands

Disposable rubber, vinyl, or latex gloves can keep germs off your hands while you clean -- and protect your skin from harsh products, too. Throw them out when you're done so you don’t spread disease, and always wash your hands thoroughly afterward.

Stop the spread

Be careful not to bring germs from the bathroom to the kitchen, for example, with your cleaning supplies or on your cleaning cloth. You can use a different colour cloth for each room to keep them separate.

The bathroom

This room is usually at the top of the list of high germ household areas. After a bug hits, disinfect here with a mix of bleach and water. Don’t forget the toilet lever, shower faucets, cabinet handles, doorknobs, and light switches.

The kitchen

The stomach bug virus is very small and easily gets into food and meal prep areas. It just takes 18 norovirus particles to make you sick. If you’re the one who’s sick, don’t cook until you haven’t had any symptoms for 48 hours. Disinfect everything you touch, like the refrigerator handle and inside drawers, coffeepot, microwave, faucets, and stove knobs.

The bedrooms

If you’re dealing with diarrhea or vomiting, wash dirty clothes, soiled linens, or stuffed toys right away. Don’t shake them -- that spreads germs, and don’t hold them close to your body. Launder fabrics in a washing machine with hot water, and dry in a clothes dryer on a hot cycle. Disinfect night table, bedposts, and changing tables, and look for things that could be contaminated. Wash toys with hard surfaces in the dishwasher.

The family room

Think about where the sick person rested: Flu germs can spread up to 2 metres away when someone coughs or sneezes. If a little one was sick, also ask: Where did he put his mouth? Then clean those areas. Don’t forget high touch areas like remote controls, phones, computer keypads, doorknobs, light switches -- even your car keys. For sensitive electronics, spray a fine mist of disinfectant on a cloth first, then wipe gently.

The carpet and the couch

If poop or vomit gets on the floor or furniture, use paper towels to soak up it up right away. Then put it in a plastic bag, tie or seal it, and throw it away. (This is another time those disposable gloves can come in handy.) Thoroughly clean soiled carpets and soft furnishings with hot water and detergent or carpet shampoo. Steam cleaning can be used on soft furnishings (if the material can withstand cleaning with steam).

Follow instructions

It might be tempting to mix cleaning products to make sure your home is germ-free -- but don’t. Mixing some cleaners and disinfectants (like chlorine bleach and ammonia) can be harmful, even deadly. Others can irritate your eyes, nose, or throat and cause breathing problems.

Get immunized

Annual influenza immunization is the safest and most effective way to avoid getting the flu or to reduce the severity of your symptoms if you do get sick, and to keep from spreading this virus to others. For more information, visit the Public Health Agency of Canada's website 'Getting the facts - then get your flu shot

References

1. Aiello AE.,& Coulbourn RM.,& Perez V., & Larson EL., 2008 Aug. Effect of hand hygiene on infectious disease risk in the community setting: a meta-analysis. Am J Public Health. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18556606

2. Kampf G, & Kramer A. 2004 Oct. Epidemiologic background of hand hygiene and evaluation of the most important agents for scrubs and rubs. Clin Microbiol Rev. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15489352

3. Jason Socrates Bardi. June 14, 2009. The Gross Science of a Cough and a Sneeze. Live Science. Retrieved from http://www.livescience.com/3686-gross-science-cough-sneeze.html

Hand Hygiene Resources

Learn more about preventing the spread of germs in the below resources prepared by OPH.

The information below is available in other formats. Contact Ottawa Public Health at 613-580-6744 to request the document in an accessible format.