Good Hand Hygiene Protects From Swine Flu

When I first reported the emergence of Swine Flu back in May there had been only 27 reported cases in total throughout the United Kingdom. Last week alone 110,000 new cases were reported nationwide, and although the Health Protection Agency predicts that figures are about to plateau, they also warn there will be ‘a very big surge’ to follow in the autumn.

As it currently stands, an estimated 1 in every 158 people in England are thought to have contracted swine flu since the outbreak began in April. The government has recently admitted that there are now so many cases of swine flu in the UK that the outbreak cannot be contained any longer.

Vaccine development

A vaccine is being developed to immunize against the H1N1 virus, and the government reports that it expects the first batches to be available in September. An estimated 60 million doses should be available by the end of the year, which is sufficient for 30 million people since 2 jabs delivered three weeks apart are required for protection.

Therefore it appears at the moment there will only be enough vaccine to inoculate about half the population of the UK, and how people will be prioritised remains unclear. Government ministers have been continually criticized (amongst other things regarding the pandemic) for a lack of guidance on ethical decisions regarding who should have access to treatments.

Remain vigilant

This makes it all the more important to remain vigilant in protecting ourselves against swine flu as much as possible, especially when coming into contact with large crowds in public. Although many think that face masks offer effective protection, the chief medical officer for England, Sir Liam Donaldson states, ‘There is no conclusive evidence that facemasks protect healthy people in their day-to-day lives, and if used incorrectly, masks may even expose people to infection.’

He continues, ‘Instead, we want people to focus on good hand hygiene, staying at home if they’re feeling unwell with flu like symptoms, covering their mouth when they cough or sneeze, cleaning their hands with soap and water or sanitising gel.’ The basic message is simple; catch your sneeze in a tissue, place it quickly in a bin and wash your hands and surfaces regularly to kill the virus.

How the virus spreads

Although experts seem unable to agree on many aspects of swine flu, they all seem in agreement about the importance of good hand hygiene. The swine flu virus is spread in droplets of mucus through coughs and sneezes, since after blowing their nose a sufferer will have droplets remaining on their fingers. If after sneezing they touch another person, who then touches their own eyes, nose or mouth it is highly likely they will themselves become infected.

Swine flu is thought to survive on the hands for only a short period, but if the virus is transferred to surfaces such as light switches, computers, and door handles it has the potential to contaminate the next person to touch that surface. Virologists believe that swine flu can survive on a soft surface for around 20 minutes and on a hard surface for up to 24 hours.

Good hand hygiene

Hands are therefore the considered to be the principal way in which cross infection occurs, making hand washing one of the most important procedures for preventing the spread of disease. And believe it or not there is a correct way of washing hands that helps destroy the protective membrane of viruses, dislodging them from your hands and dispatching them down the drain;-

1. Wet your hands with warm/hot water and apply soap to them, then rub your hands together vigorously to create a lather.
2. Scrub the front and backs of your hands, between your fingers and your wrists for at least 20 seconds, since this is the time studies show is required to remove most disease germs.
3. Rinse well under warm running water. Remember the objective is to dislodge germs, and the force of water facilitates this. Don’t turn the taps of with your clean hands - use a paper towel and then discard it.
4. Dry your hands thoroughly with a disposable towel or under a hot dryer whilst rubbing your hands together.
5. If you’ve used a paper towel to dry your hands, discard it.

If you commute regularly in areas where there are no facilities available to wash your hands you should carry an alcohol-based hand sanitizer instead of waiting until you get home. However, some experts warn that using gels throughout the day can actually increase the risk of picking up a virus because the alcohol can dry and crack skin, thereby allowing viruses to enter the body. Many people do find alcohol cleansers very aggressive for the skin, but applying a soothing and moisturising lotion after cleansing can really help alleviate this dryness.

Supercharged soap

If you want to protect yourself with something more powerful than just plain soap you can make your own soap based antiviral hand-wash containing essential oils to carry with you when you are travelling. Simply mix some of the anti-viral essential oils listed in the sidebar into a liquid soap or shampoo, and put the mixture in a small bottle to carry around with you instead of the harsh alcohol based hand-cleansers.

Using this mixture instead of regular soap will significantly increase the potency of your hand hygiene routine without suffering from the problem of dry or cracking skin on your hands. Of course you can also use this method at home by adding essential oils to your existing bottle of ordinary hand-wash soap.

All of the anti-viral essential oils from the list opposite can be used effectively as a shield to both protect and stop the virus from spreading. You can also use them to make a synergistic blend and use them in baths, massage, skincare, inhalations and your vaporisers around the home or at work to give you even more all round protection.

Copyright © Quinessence Aromatherapy Ltd 2009

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