Hand washing 5 Easy Steps May Prevent Flu or Travel Illness (kids)

Fight the Flu Virus with these 5 Hand washing steps. My son came down the hall with a red bandana on his head waving a plastic sword. “Aarrggh!” he shouted. “Would you play pirates with me mom?” As I picked up a broom to use the handle as my sword for the pirates duel, it made me think about how parents must protect their children during flu season like pirates protect their treasure. When Fighting the Flu or Influenza Virus this season here are some easy tips protect your family and what to do if you or someone in your family does get the Flu or the Influenza A H1N1, Influenza A H3N2, this season. The CDC , Center for Disease Control, has characterized 61 influenza viruses [nine 2009 influenza A (H1N1), 42 influenza A (H3N2) viruses, and 10 influenza B viruses] collected by U.S. laboratories since October 1, 2011. Courtesy of the CDC. The first step in protecting your family is hand washing. Hand washing is THE best way to prevent the spread of viruses. Considering what children touch during the day, teach them the steps to thorough hand washing. They can continue to use this technique even when they are at school. Teach your family members the 5 steps to good hand washing; First : Turn on the water and wet your hands, front and back. Make the water as hot as possible, being careful not too hot for young hands. Second: Soap your hands making a spider shape with your fingers intertwining each other. This allows the soap to cover all surfaces of the hands. Third: Scrub the soap on your hands for at least 20-30 seconds. The nature of germs is that they are sticky. Soap creates a slippery surface, the scrubbing loosens the sticky germs. Twenty seconds may seem like a long time for a child. During those twenty seconds, encourage the singing of “Happy Birthday” or another Nursery Rhyme. Once the 20 seconds is up, complete the 4th and 5th steps. Fourth: rinse off the soap pointing fingers down to the bottom of the sink. Remind your child not to touch the sides or bottom of the sink. Fifth: With the water still running, the last step is the" two towel step." Dry your hands with a paper towel. Throw the paper towel in the trash. Next, grab a second paper towel and turn off the running water with the dry towel. Toss the second paper towel in the trash. Turning the water off with a clean paper towel will further decrease the spread of germs. When soap and water is not readily available, give your child liquid hand sanitizer to use at school. The liquid hand sanitizer never replaces good hand washing, but can kill germs in between hand washing. Having clean hands and clean surfaces around the home decreases the spread of germs. Buy a disinfectant spray that states it will kill Influenza germs. Spray surfaces around your home that your family frequently touches ; the door knobs, the refrigerator door handle, sinks and kitchen counter tops and toys. Keeping the home, or "pirate ship" disinfected may help the family to stay afloat on the high seas of health, keeping your pirates at their posts like school or work. Disinfectant spray may not protect you from getting the flu, but it may help prevent the flu in your home this season. “ Gotcha’ Mom!” my son shouted as he jabbed his red plastic sword between my arm and my side. We flopped down on the couch laughing. The steps outlined are like sword of prevention from the Flu Virus, steps to protect our little treasures.