Proper hand washing may be the single most important thing we can do to prevent the spread of MRSA, as well as cold and flu virii and other infectious diseases, and to prevent antibiotic resistance. We must do it in our homes, and medical staff must do it between patients, because MRSA is everywhere now, and is especially prevalent in medical settings.

Always wash your hands after using the bathroom, before, during and after food preparation, after blowing your nose, when they are visibly dirty, and even more often when you, or someone in your home, is sick.

The medical community knows how to wash their hands, and their process is a lot more involved than ours, but here is how to do it so that the bacteria washes down the drain, rather than stays on your hands:

Wet your hands. Apply liquid soap, or bar soap. If you are using bar soap, make sure that it is stored in a container that drains, or you will have a colony of bacteria living underneath it. Lather up the soap, and really scrub your hands, and scrub them all over, and all the way to your wrists. One of the places that is frequently missed by hand washing, and is also the number one place for bacteria to reside, is the thumb and the area between the thumb and the top of the wrist. Be absolutely sure you scrub this area very well. If you have a scrub brush, use it, and be sure to scrub under your nails. Keep scrubbing for about 20 seconds. Sing a kids song (Twinkle Twinkle) and when it is finished, rinse your hands well. After all of that scrubbing, it would be a shame to leave the loosened bacteria on your skin. Rinse well, and send that bacteria on down the drain. Dry your hands with a fresh towel, or with paper towels, and then throw them away.

Using a paper towel to turn off your water faucets is always a good idea as well. When I am in public, especially, I use a paper towel to open the door to the restroom when I leave. All of the scrubbing in the world will not help when the guy in the bathroom before you did not wash his hands before he left.

Clean your faucets and toilet and bathroom door handles daily. Using these measures will not only help you prevent the spread of MRSA, but will keep a barrier between you and many other types of infections.

There are many good hand washing resources on the internet, I would suggest printing out one of them and posting it in your bathrooms. If you have children, choose one that is easy for them to understand, like the one at HenryTheHand.com.

For more information about hand washing see:

KidsHealth.org

CDC.gov (Centers for Disease Control)

WashUp.org

Christina Jones maintains the website at http://www.mrsaresources.com/ dedicated to education, emotional support for MRSA (Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus) patients and their support network as well as awareness of MRSA in our communities.