Ignaz
Semmelweis, everyone!
It’s
time for your monthly COVID column, and Ignaz Semmelweis isn’t a
strange Lewis-Lusso holiday greeting (yet), but a true hero of
healthcare.
Semmelweis! Photo: Public domain, via Wikimedia.
Whether
you are still worried about COVID, over it for myriad reasons, or
develop a blank, thousand-yard stare when you have to think about it,
I hope you’ll still find value in this quick trip through history.
Ignaz
Semmelweis was a Hungarian doctor in the mid-1800s, and he noticed a
problem in the two maternity wards at his teaching hospital. Between
1840 and 1846, the maternal mortality rate for the midwives’ ward
was 36 per 1000 births, while the mortality rate for the doctors’
ward was 98 per 1000 births.
I’ll
resist making the easy doctor joke to continue the tale: Semmelweis
found that the doctors sometimes delivered babies after performing
autopsies. After instituting a handwashing policy (not in general
mind you, just after autopsies) the mortality rate for the doctors
dropped to the same level as the midwives.
Medical
professionals kicked this idea back and forth for a while before
finally deciding that regular hand washing was a good idea, and
instituting it as a standard … over a hundred years later, in the
1980s!
This
is why I get people who don’t fully embrace COVID protocols like
masking, vaccination and ventilation. In fact, if you promise to wash
your hands regularly, you will be taking the most important step to
not getting sick in most circumstances. Unfortunately, most of us are
TERRIBLE about hand hygiene.
A
lot of groups have looked at hand hygiene compliance, through surveys
and observation. The areas that SHOULD have the highest compliance
levels for hand hygiene are “hands down” healthcare and food
service. It’s not offensive to ask your healthcare provider if they
have washed their hands. How about the dude making your sandwich? If
you’d ask that guy, ask your doctor as well.
A
wise infection preventionist once told me: “Imagine everything you
touch has ketchup on it, and that will keep you washing your hands
regularly.”
“But
Michelle, WHY do I need to wash my hands???” Welp, how do
you think we get germs?
Why
do some people always get a sore throat or a cold in the winter? Is
it the cold weather? Going out for a minute without a coat? How about
wet hair? Forgot to take your vitamin C?
Nope — colds
are caused by viruses, not by being underdressed or “exposed” to
the elements with wet hair. The common cold (along with some other
unsavory viruses) is transmitted through the business that flies out
of the noses and mouths of people who have the frequent and sudden
urge to sneeze — like when they have a cold.
Some
viruses stay viable (living) for hours to days on surfaces. It has
been recommended that we regularly clean or disinfect “high-touch”
surfaces. High-touch surfaces are just that — we touch them all of
the time — doorknobs, toilet handles, phones, keyboards, refrigerator
doors, light switches, countertops, etc.
Viruses
land on these surfaces or hang out on the hands of those carrying
them. If you wipe your nose, shake the hand of a colleague you
haven’t seen in a while, then grab a cup of coffee from the break
room, you’re both totally normal and spreading germs.
I
challenged some people during Infection Prevention Week (SO much
fun!) to “follow the germ”
or count how many surfaces they had touched for the first hour of
work. Then I asked them to try to count how many times they touched
their faces. There were some surprises. Some studies have shown 23
face-touches per hour! Yikes — I’m glad I wear glasses and my mask
a lot, because I probably go for the areas of my face I’m likely to
deposit a germ in — my eyes, nose or mouth.
You
probably won’t be able to train yourself not to touch your face — believe me, I have tried. So, the next best thing you can do is
regularly wash your hands. This will not only keep your hands clean,
but also keep germs off that quality mask you are breathing through.
So,
what are some things that can keep us from getting sick?
- Number
1: HAND HYGIENE! Wash your hands at least 20 seconds with soap and
water — or use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer — before and after
eating, after using the toilet, after caring for or cleaning up after
an animal, child or other dependent being or someone who is sick,
before, during and after preparing food, before touching your face,
after blowing your nose, coughing or sneezing, after being in public
places, after touching garbage — SO many opportunities! - Clean
and disinfect high-touch surfaces (always read the manufacturer
instructions for use on those cleaning products!) - Avoid
touching your eyes, nose and mouth - Avoid
close contact with people who are sick
If
it’s taken you a while to get on board with preventative health
measures, don’t feel bad — it took doctors over a hundred years to
finally wash their hands. But now that you know, fall is a great time
to start. Stay safe and healthy!
###
Michelle
Lewis-Lusso (she/her) is an Infection Prevention and Control nurse at
United Indian Health Services, serving the 11,000+ clients and staff
at their seven area clinics. Michelle hopes you wash your hands AND
don’t go out with wet hair.