Your HANDS; Your Best Friend or Worst Enemy.

Our hands, these two hands that we have are one of the most important part of our body. We use them in almost everything and sometimes we do not realise how much they are used and where they have been used. Hands touch different surfaces, for example, picking up a TV/ radio remote control, putting on shoes, selecting vegetables, meat, dairy products and many other items at the Supermarket, pressing buttons in the elevator, cleaning surfaces, greeting people, touching your face, wiping yourself..the list goes on. It is because of this that hands have become our best friend but also our worst enemy. 
Our hands are our best friend because they help us achieve so many things, they are our worst enemy because they can touch and carry infectious material, that can cause serious diseases and transfer it to other surfaces, and people.

That is why it is important to wash our hands every time we;

•  come into the house from outside,
•  when we finish using the toilet, 
• before we start eating, 
• when we have finished eating,
•  before we touch or carry a baby, 
• before cleaning a wound
• before touching your eyes and ears
• before touching your mouth and inside your nose
• after using a computer or any portable device
• after attending a public function which involved shaking hands with different people
• when you feel that your hands are dirty

You can never wash your hands too much, washing your hands reduces the amount of dirt, and other material that can be harmful to our bodies.For example influenza virus is transmitted/spread through three different ways:

1.   by direct contact with infected individuals;
2.  by contact with contaminated objects (called fomites, such as toys, doorknobs, TV/radio remote controls and anything that an infected individual touched (Remember when people sneeze or wipe their nose their hands are involved))
3.  by inhalation of virus-laden aerosols. 

So now you underestand why it is mportant to wash your hands? Influenza is just one example but there are so many diseases that are transmitted by contact, where our hands touch and carry the infectious material and transfer them into our body through the things we handle there after.

Some of the diseases that can be transmitted through contact include;

1. Respiratory illnesses e.g. Bacterial Meningitis, Chickenpox, Common cold, Influenza, Mumps,Strep throat, Measles, Rubella, SARS, and Whooping cough.
2. Food borne illnesses (illnesses transmitted from contaminated food) e.g.Cholera, Hepatitis A, Polio, Rotavirus, Salmonella, Parasites e.g. Ascaris lumbricoides

So next time you hesitate to wash your hands, think of what they may be carrying!