National Hand Washing Awareness Week is December 2nd through 8th. It's the perfect time to brush up on hand washing technique to avoid the spread of cold and flu.
Leslie O'Neill, Infection Preventionist, shares best practices for hand washing.
The Importance of Hand Washing in the Fight Against the Flu
Featuring:
Leslie O'Neill, RN
Leslie O’Neill has been a Critical Care RN at Ridgecrest Regional Hospital for nearly 12 years. While infection prevention has been an element of her job for years, she became an Infection Preventionist 4 years ago, focusing on staff, patient, student and community education, and supporting prevention strategies including infection surveillance and investigation, identifying trends in infection rates, pathogens and antimicrobial resistance patterns. She is passionate about her job and the opportunity to support her hospital and her community in these important endeavors. Transcription:
Prakash Chandran (Host): Everyone dreads coming down with a bad case of the flu, but luckily there are some things that we can do to lessen our chances of contracting it this season. I'm Prakash Chandran, and in this episode of Ridgecrest Regional Hospital Podcast, we'll be talking about the importance of hand washing and the fight against the flu. Here with us to discuss is Leslie O'Neill, RN; an infection preventionist at Ridgecrest Regional Hospital. Leslie, it's a pleasure to have you. So, I've always assumed that the flu season was late fall into early winter, but I'd actually love to start by understanding the technical timeframe that you define as flu season.
Leslie O’Neill, RN (Guest): Technically we define the flu season as beginning November the first through April the thirtieth. That's a change from last year, the end of the flu season was the end of March, but we're seeing flu later than that, so the flu season has been officially extended to April the thirtieth.
Host: Wow, so it actually goes for quite a long time, quite a bit longer than I originally thought. And I'm just curious about what causes that change in timing, or when you shorten or extend that timeframe?
Leslie: Those parameters are given to us through the Health Department- the California Health Department as well as the CDC, and it's based on how much influenza they see and when they see it.
Host: Okay, so let's talk a little bit about the flu itself, and how it spreads from one person to another, and how it does it so quickly. Can you give us a little bit more information about telling us if it's in the air, or is it from things that we're touching or coming into physical contact with? Yeah, maybe shed some light on that.
Leslie: Sure. Influenza is actually spread by droplets. So we get it person to person, and it can be things that we touch, and then touching our eyes or our noses that allows the virus to get into our system. So typically it can spread to people up to about six feet away, and the flu virus is spread by those droplets when we cough, when we sneeze, when we talk, and that's when- and in addition to that, we can touch a surface or an object that has the flu virus on it, and then as I just said, touch our own mouth, nose, or our eyes.
Host: And it seems like some people are more susceptible than others to it. So when we come in contact with those droplets, some people may be able to contract it easily, and others may be immune to it. Isn't that right?
Leslie: People don't typically have natural immunity to the flu. Certainly what you're saying is true. There are populations of people that are more susceptible. For example, pregnant women. Last year only half of pregnant women were immunized against influenza, but they are actually a very vulnerable population because their immune systems don't work the same way or as effectively when they're pregnant. Young children, older adults, and people with chronic diseases; those are all people who are susceptible.
I know that people think that because they're healthy, and they eat well, and they're not in a population like I just mentioned, that they have an immunity. But we learned in the flu season last year in particular, since it was such a bad flu year, that even healthy young people contracted the flu, and some died as a result of the complications of the flu, like pneumonia. So no one is immune. What confers immunity is being vaccinated against the flu.
Host: Yeah, we'll talk about that in a little bit. But you know, one of the things that you mentioned is the susceptibility of pregnant women. My wife is currently pregnant, so I'm definitely on the lookout for anything that could potentially infect her. We've already had our flu shots, but sometimes when I see members of my family or my friends wash their hands, I think that quick rinse could not have possibly killed all the germs and those droplets that you were talking about. So will you please walk us through the perfect hand washing technique so I can share it with them?
Leslie: I can certainly do that. First of all, the thing to remember about hand washing is you have to do it often, and you have to do it with soap and water. Alcohol-based hand sanitizer, we call that hand rubbing, can also be effective if you don't have access to soap and water. The best hand wash lasts about twenty-five to forty seconds, and you want to get all of the surfaces of your hands covered in soap and rub the back of your hands, which is the most often missed part, between your fingers, a little bit of under the nails by rubbing your hand against your palm, just making sure that you do a really thorough job and then rinsing your hands under the water. That's the perfect hand wash, but as I said, hand rubbing using alcohol-based hand sanitizer, but using those same motions can be equally effective when you do not have access to soap and water.
Host: That's a pretty comprehensive technique to washing your hands, and I can promise you that I don't always fulfill those requirements, so it's really important to hear - the back of your hand, under your nails, the proper technique for making sure that you're doing it right. Because you know, most people don't realize that germs can live on your hands for quite some time, and that's no different with the flu. So can you maybe talk about how long a flu virus can survive on your hands if you don't wash them properly?
Leslie: Pathogens can live on your skin for indeterminant amounts of time if we don't mobilize them off of our hands. There isn't necessarily a specific timeframe. It can depend on what's on your hands, what you've touched, how often you've touched it, and so on and so forth. That's why we say wash your hands often with soap and water and avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth, because it can stay there indefinitely if you don't do something to get rid of it.
Host: Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. So I want to talk about the flu shot itself. So at this point, there really is no reason not to get it, but I know that some people are still apprehensive, which is frustrating. So what are some of the common objections that you're still hearing today that really aren't valid?
Leslie: We do continue to hear that they're- well first of all, let me preface it by saying this. Nothing is without risk. Walking across the street is taking a risk. In terms of the flu vaccine, there can be most commonly risk of local discomfort and swelling. There can be very rarely reactions to it if a person has an allergy. However, statistically the dangers of the shot itself are far less than the danger of getting the flu and having complications from the flu.
What we hear are relationship to- the most common one that there was a belief that it had something to do with autism, and there is a lot of clinical evidence and research that have gone into disproving that. Others believe that they're being healthy, as I mentioned before, will make them less likely to get the flu. But again, with the flu season last year, 80,000 Americans died of the flu and its complications, and that was the most deadly season for influenza in four decades, and those fatalities included the deaths of 180 children. So it's important to remember that statistically vaccination is still the best thing that we can do.
Another thing that we hear from people as well, is the flu shots aren't very- they don't work very well. And it is true that the statistics vary from year to year in terms of how effective the flu shot is, and this year they're estimating- and we won't know this until after the flu season, but they're estimating about 50% or so. However, it's proven that even if it doesn't keep you from getting the flu 100% of the time, if you do get the flu, your symptoms will be far less, the duration of the flu will be far less, and the risk of complications from the flu will be far less as well.
Host: Right, well thank you for sharing those statistics. And so I think it's important for everyone that I just recap this. The two single most important things that we can do to protect ourselves and others is to number one, wash our hands thoroughly using the technique that Leslie has shared with us today. And number two is to go out and get the flu shot. It's really that simple. And they're actually offering the flu shot at Ridgecrest Regional Hospital's Rural Health and Southern Sierra Clinics. So either just set up an appointment, or if you're already an established patient, just go ahead and walk on in.
So Leslie, I want to thank you so much for your time today, and sharing all these helpful tips. For more information regarding getting the flu shot, please visit www.RRH.org. That's www.RRH.org. My guest today has been Leslie O'Neill. I'm Prakash Chandran, thank you so much for listening.
Prakash Chandran (Host): Everyone dreads coming down with a bad case of the flu, but luckily there are some things that we can do to lessen our chances of contracting it this season. I'm Prakash Chandran, and in this episode of Ridgecrest Regional Hospital Podcast, we'll be talking about the importance of hand washing and the fight against the flu. Here with us to discuss is Leslie O'Neill, RN; an infection preventionist at Ridgecrest Regional Hospital. Leslie, it's a pleasure to have you. So, I've always assumed that the flu season was late fall into early winter, but I'd actually love to start by understanding the technical timeframe that you define as flu season.
Leslie O’Neill, RN (Guest): Technically we define the flu season as beginning November the first through April the thirtieth. That's a change from last year, the end of the flu season was the end of March, but we're seeing flu later than that, so the flu season has been officially extended to April the thirtieth.
Host: Wow, so it actually goes for quite a long time, quite a bit longer than I originally thought. And I'm just curious about what causes that change in timing, or when you shorten or extend that timeframe?
Leslie: Those parameters are given to us through the Health Department- the California Health Department as well as the CDC, and it's based on how much influenza they see and when they see it.
Host: Okay, so let's talk a little bit about the flu itself, and how it spreads from one person to another, and how it does it so quickly. Can you give us a little bit more information about telling us if it's in the air, or is it from things that we're touching or coming into physical contact with? Yeah, maybe shed some light on that.
Leslie: Sure. Influenza is actually spread by droplets. So we get it person to person, and it can be things that we touch, and then touching our eyes or our noses that allows the virus to get into our system. So typically it can spread to people up to about six feet away, and the flu virus is spread by those droplets when we cough, when we sneeze, when we talk, and that's when- and in addition to that, we can touch a surface or an object that has the flu virus on it, and then as I just said, touch our own mouth, nose, or our eyes.
Host: And it seems like some people are more susceptible than others to it. So when we come in contact with those droplets, some people may be able to contract it easily, and others may be immune to it. Isn't that right?
Leslie: People don't typically have natural immunity to the flu. Certainly what you're saying is true. There are populations of people that are more susceptible. For example, pregnant women. Last year only half of pregnant women were immunized against influenza, but they are actually a very vulnerable population because their immune systems don't work the same way or as effectively when they're pregnant. Young children, older adults, and people with chronic diseases; those are all people who are susceptible.
I know that people think that because they're healthy, and they eat well, and they're not in a population like I just mentioned, that they have an immunity. But we learned in the flu season last year in particular, since it was such a bad flu year, that even healthy young people contracted the flu, and some died as a result of the complications of the flu, like pneumonia. So no one is immune. What confers immunity is being vaccinated against the flu.
Host: Yeah, we'll talk about that in a little bit. But you know, one of the things that you mentioned is the susceptibility of pregnant women. My wife is currently pregnant, so I'm definitely on the lookout for anything that could potentially infect her. We've already had our flu shots, but sometimes when I see members of my family or my friends wash their hands, I think that quick rinse could not have possibly killed all the germs and those droplets that you were talking about. So will you please walk us through the perfect hand washing technique so I can share it with them?
Leslie: I can certainly do that. First of all, the thing to remember about hand washing is you have to do it often, and you have to do it with soap and water. Alcohol-based hand sanitizer, we call that hand rubbing, can also be effective if you don't have access to soap and water. The best hand wash lasts about twenty-five to forty seconds, and you want to get all of the surfaces of your hands covered in soap and rub the back of your hands, which is the most often missed part, between your fingers, a little bit of under the nails by rubbing your hand against your palm, just making sure that you do a really thorough job and then rinsing your hands under the water. That's the perfect hand wash, but as I said, hand rubbing using alcohol-based hand sanitizer, but using those same motions can be equally effective when you do not have access to soap and water.
Host: That's a pretty comprehensive technique to washing your hands, and I can promise you that I don't always fulfill those requirements, so it's really important to hear - the back of your hand, under your nails, the proper technique for making sure that you're doing it right. Because you know, most people don't realize that germs can live on your hands for quite some time, and that's no different with the flu. So can you maybe talk about how long a flu virus can survive on your hands if you don't wash them properly?
Leslie: Pathogens can live on your skin for indeterminant amounts of time if we don't mobilize them off of our hands. There isn't necessarily a specific timeframe. It can depend on what's on your hands, what you've touched, how often you've touched it, and so on and so forth. That's why we say wash your hands often with soap and water and avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth, because it can stay there indefinitely if you don't do something to get rid of it.
Host: Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. So I want to talk about the flu shot itself. So at this point, there really is no reason not to get it, but I know that some people are still apprehensive, which is frustrating. So what are some of the common objections that you're still hearing today that really aren't valid?
Leslie: We do continue to hear that they're- well first of all, let me preface it by saying this. Nothing is without risk. Walking across the street is taking a risk. In terms of the flu vaccine, there can be most commonly risk of local discomfort and swelling. There can be very rarely reactions to it if a person has an allergy. However, statistically the dangers of the shot itself are far less than the danger of getting the flu and having complications from the flu.
What we hear are relationship to- the most common one that there was a belief that it had something to do with autism, and there is a lot of clinical evidence and research that have gone into disproving that. Others believe that they're being healthy, as I mentioned before, will make them less likely to get the flu. But again, with the flu season last year, 80,000 Americans died of the flu and its complications, and that was the most deadly season for influenza in four decades, and those fatalities included the deaths of 180 children. So it's important to remember that statistically vaccination is still the best thing that we can do.
Another thing that we hear from people as well, is the flu shots aren't very- they don't work very well. And it is true that the statistics vary from year to year in terms of how effective the flu shot is, and this year they're estimating- and we won't know this until after the flu season, but they're estimating about 50% or so. However, it's proven that even if it doesn't keep you from getting the flu 100% of the time, if you do get the flu, your symptoms will be far less, the duration of the flu will be far less, and the risk of complications from the flu will be far less as well.
Host: Right, well thank you for sharing those statistics. And so I think it's important for everyone that I just recap this. The two single most important things that we can do to protect ourselves and others is to number one, wash our hands thoroughly using the technique that Leslie has shared with us today. And number two is to go out and get the flu shot. It's really that simple. And they're actually offering the flu shot at Ridgecrest Regional Hospital's Rural Health and Southern Sierra Clinics. So either just set up an appointment, or if you're already an established patient, just go ahead and walk on in.
So Leslie, I want to thank you so much for your time today, and sharing all these helpful tips. For more information regarding getting the flu shot, please visit www.RRH.org. That's www.RRH.org. My guest today has been Leslie O'Neill. I'm Prakash Chandran, thank you so much for listening.