To Your Health: Gloves will limit your virus exposure
By GILLIAN SLADE on February 3, 2020.
gslade@medicinehatnews.com
Even though, as of Friday writing, there are no cases of coronavirus in Alberta, we are constantly reminded of the “threat” with frequent news reports.
The coronavirus notwithstanding, we are in the middle of the influenza season and at least 20 people have died in Alberta.
That is not meant to scare you but remind you of sensible precautions to take so that your risk of illness is limited.
If you are a senior you will remember the days of always having with you a clean cotton handkerchief. If you were about to sneeze or cough you pulled this from your pocket and covered your mouth.
I can still remember my mother boiling all the handkerchiefs in a pot, kept only for that purpose, every Monday morning.
Switching to tissues, many would argue, is much more hygienic. I would agree with that as long as used tissues are disposed of immediately after use.
One of the problems is we do not always have a tissue at the ready when we sneeze and/or cough. That resulted in the advice to sneeze and cough into your elbow instead.
Recently some medical experts are advising that this may not be a good idea. Your germs are then on your clothing and when you fold your arms your hands are touching those germs. I have heard a number of physicians nationally suggest it is better to cough and sneeze into your hand and then …… this is the important part ….. immediately go and wash your hands.
There needs to be a lot of hand washing going on particularly at this time of year. Hot water and plenty of soap is needed. Get into the routine of doing this.
I was recently reminded of the phase we went through about whether shaking hands was appropriate considering the possibility of transfer of germs and viruses. I don’t want to debate that point but have noticed when someone refuses to shake hands it can be interpreted as not being friendly.
It has made me think more and more about gloves.
Have you noticed that the Queen always wears gloves when we see her in public. I have heard that she typically has access to about 10 pairs of gloves a day when she has several appointments. When she has left one location and is being driven to the next she changes her gloves. She also is remarkably healthy for someone of advanced age. perhaps she is on to a good thing with those gloves.
We can’t get away with wearing smart cotton gloves year round in our ordinary lives but we have a great excuse in winter. Just remember to change them frequently and of course wash thoroughly.
After I have been shopping, touching cash and coins that many people have handled, I will often change my gloves when I get to the car.
It is not what’s on our hands that will necessarily make us sick but we all have a habit of touching our faces, nose and mouth in particular, and that is where the germs get transferred.
Here’s to limiting your exposure to viruses and here’s To Your Health.
(To Your Health is a weekly column by Gillian Slade, health reporter for the News, bringing you news on health issues and research from around the world. You can reach her at
gslade@medicinehatnews.com or 403-528-8635.)
19
-18
