Don’t give the gift of illness this holiday season. Wash your hands

If you’re at a gathering this holiday season, two infection prevention specialists at Meritus Health have some advice for you.

“Pass the gravy, not the flu,” said Cathy Ware, BSN, RN.

Tommie Blalock, BSN, RN, agreed.

“Hands are the number one way germs get from place to place,” he said. “They do travel when we sneeze or cough, but for the majority of us who aren’t sneezing or coughing, it’s the hands.”

Indeed, the instructions your parents gave you when you came in from playing still apply today: Wash your hands to prevent getting yourself or others sick.

Everything from the flu, rhinovirus, COVID and other viruses can hitch a ride on our hands. So can bad bugs such as E. coli or streptococcus (also known as strep throat), Ware and Blalock warned.

While they might not make those with strong immune systems ill, they could prove serious for people who have compromised immune systems, open wounds or other conditions.

When it comes to washing your hands, soap and water or hand sanitizer are good, but not the key ingredient to getting rid of germs.

“It’s the friction that breaks up the cell walls of bacteria and viruses,” Blalock said. “And the friction washes them off your hands. It’s more the action and the mechanism.”

That’s not to say the kind of soap or hand sanitizer are unimportant. Antibacterial products are effective, and sanitizer should be at least 60% alcohol.

Along with scrubbing, the length of time is important, too. Ware and Blalock recommend washing for at least 20 seconds.

“A chorus of ‘Jingle Bells’ will give you 20 seconds,” Blalock said.

The World Health Organization, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and numerous other health organizations generally recommend these steps:

• After getting your hands wet with water and adding soap, rub your palms together.
• Put your right palm over the back of your left hand, then rub in between your fingers. Repeat with your left palm over the back of your right hand.
• Put your palms together and rub between your fingers again.
• Put your right-hand fingertips overtop of your left-hand fingertips, then make a fist with both hands so your fingers interlock. Rub the backs of your fingers in your palms.
• Wrap your left thumb with your right hand, then rotate back and forth, like you’re revving a motorcycle. Repeat with the right thumb and left hand.
• Scrub your fingernails of your right hand on the palm of your left hand. Repeat, switching hands.
• Rinse your hands with water and dry your hands thoroughly with a single-use towel. Use that same towel to turn off the water before you throw the towel in the trash.

Ware stressed cleaning under your fingernails, a spot often forgotten in the routine.

“We know that some specific organisms, when your fingernails are long, tend to harbor there,” she said. “If you’re going to have longer nails, make sure you’re keeping them clean.”

Keeping your hands clean and observing respiratory etiquette — coughing or sneezing into a tissue or the crook of your arm — can go a long way to having a happy end to 2025.

“We’re trying to spread joy this holiday season, not germs,” Blalock said.

For the latest, up-to-date information on the flu season, viral illnesses, testing, treatment, and vaccination options, please visit MeritusHealth.com/Viralillness.