Are your gloves and scarves swarming with germs?
The cold weather is here, and many are reaching for their scarves, hats and gloves as they head outdoors each morning.
As a result, gloves come in contact with doorknobs, elevator buttons, shopping carts and cell phones, and a scarf is often used to shield a sneeze or cough from others.
While hand washing after coughing or touching germy surfaces may be second nature, many forget to pass this habit on to their gloves, which touch the same objects.
“Wash your gloves and scarves on a weekly basis or when soiled,” says Sinthuya Selvendrarajah, infection prevention coordinator at Advocate Trinity Hospital in Chicago. “Although there is no evidence-based studies to validate this, our gloves serve as our hands during the winter months.”
Depending on the germ and what winter clothing items the germ comes in contact with, the organism may live for hours or even days. They can then get the individual wearing the gloves or scarves sick, and wherever the gloves or mittens go they can cross-contaminate other surfaces, which can cause other people to get ill.
Since many gloves, scarves and hats are made of delicate fabrics and may need to be dry-cleaned or hand-washed, Selvendrarajah suggests having more than one go-to scarf and a few pair of warm gloves. This is the best solution when there’s already a set in the wash.
She offers additional advice for preventing the spread of germs during the winter months:
- Don’t use your teeth or mouth to take off your gloves.
- If your gloves or scarves get wet, lay them flat to completely dry before you store them away.
- Try to always carry hand sanitizer with you and wash your hands before putting on your gloves.
- Use a moisturizer to keep your skin soft and smooth.
Related Posts
Comments
4 Comments
About the Author
health enews staff is a group of experienced writers from our Advocate Health Care and Aurora Health Care sites, which also includes freelance or intern writers.
Great tips!
This is the dumbest thing I have read lately. You can’t sanitize your home, your work or your clothing to keep from getting sick. In fact, getting rid of germs around you will make you susceptible to infection and even MRSI’s (antibiotic resistant infections).
Best thing to do to stay well is to take probiotics daily to build your immune system. WARNING, the stuff they sell at Walgreens, Walmart, CVS, etc. is generally worthless. Go to a good heal food store, and get a good brand like PB 8, or FloraJen, Mercola, etc. and take plenty. If your immune system is already pisspoor from living in a “sanitized environment” you may need 40 to 100 billion units or more per day.
Another key item is Lipospheric or Lyposomal Vitamin C. If you are sick with cancer, dementia or heart disease, you may need 6 to 8 gr per day, otherwise 2 to 3 gr per day should solve most problems (heart disease, dementia, cancer, high blood pressure, etc.) This is the only thing that I know of that actually cures high blood pressure because it kills the microbes that are attacking your arteries.
Another key item to stay healthy all the time is D3. Do NOT take the slightly more toxic D2 which does not seem to work. Take D3, and if possible get tested and get your values as close to 100 ngr/mL blood level as possible.
Do not sanitize your environment (unless you have an immune system problem already). Dirt and germs are the way to build your immune system.
Avoid vaccines that contain thimerosol (mercury) aluminum, formaldehyde and other toxic substances. If you must vaccinate build you immune system and detox with green veggie juicing and turmeric for 2 weeks before and after any dose. Only take one vaccine per month.
Other essential vitamins include vitamins B and MSM sulfur.
Many green clininical studies are online (www.greenmedinfo.com). Before you take any prescription meds, research them thoroughly. Try to get to the root source of the problem and elmininate any disease with safe, natural cures first.
Just think vitamins B, C, D3, probiotics and sulfur every day to stay healthy and never get sick and then you won’t need anoying MD’s telling you harsh expensive meds to take, or unsafe vaccines.
Please list your credentials that your recommendations are based on…
Yeah, dont’ listen to a doctor, just listen to this goof and her crazy vitamin advice. Probably sells vitamins for a living.