Controlling The Spread Of Infection In Your Home
Germs and bacteria are everywhere, even in your home. They lurk on your body, surfaces, household items, appliances, and your clothes.
There are many things you can do to help prevent the spread of infection in your home by looking at these areas where germs and bacteria can gather. Each area has unique characteristics that can be used in the fight against the spread of infection.
Your body is unique in that it is covered by skin. Skin can harbor germs and bacteria but it can also be washed. Daily washing is important to control not only odor but the spread of germs and bacteria. Showers are better than baths when it comes to preventing the spread of infection because when you bathe, you sit in the dirty water. Showers allow the dirt, germs and bacteria to be washed off your body and down the drain.
Your clothes should be clean and dry to prevent them from harboring bacteria.
Two rooms in your home in particular are prone to germs and bacteria - the bathroom and the kitchen. The bathroom is prime location for dirt and germs because that is where we go to the bathroom and that is where we go when we are dirty in order to get cleaned up. The bathroom needs to be cleaned on a regular basis with disinfectant. The toilet should be cleaned with a bleach product. Bleach kills bacteria.
The kitchen is a prime area for germs and bacteria because that is where we prepare our food and food and water can contain contaminants or surfaces that we prepare food on can contain germs and bacteria. It is especially important to disinfect all kitchen surfaces before preparing food and after preparing food. All utensils used in preparing food need to be washed in hot soapy water before using them. Cutting boards can harbor bacteria so make sure that your cutting board is made of either a synthetic vinyl or plastic as these are easier to clean.
Make sure that you clean household surfaces like the kitchen table, coffee table, night stands, computer keyboard, door knobs, the handles on drawers and the toilet handle, the television remote and the microwave control panel too. Everywhere you touch on a regular basis needs to be washed. Surfaces like doorframes, refrigerator handles, counters, bookshelves, desks and entertainment centers. If you have exercise equipment, don't forget to clean those surfaces too. Lysol is a good product to spray on surfaces like door knobs.
The single most important step you can take in your home to prevent the spread of infection is to have everyone in the home wash their hands often. Hands should especially be washed before eating, before preparing food, when soiled, and after touching surfaces that are contaminated or dirty. They should also be washed after doing dirty chores like sorting dirty clothes, cleaning out the cat litter box, gardening or touching anything that is dirty.
Germs and bacteria are everywhere, it is difficult to avoid coming into contact with them. You can however limit the chance of spreading germs and bacteria to others and to your food sources by making sure that your home, the surfaces in it and the people in it are doing what needs to be done to prevent the spread of infection.