Health and well-being: November 2004 Archives

Like everyone else, I'm not getting the flu shot this year and I'm a nurse and work in a hospital. Of course I'm not doing patient care and that's the requirement for the shot but I'm OK with it. I'm relatively young and healthy so I'd rather someone who really needs the shot get mine. My 80-something year old grandmother is going without so I'd like to think, idealistically, that someone in need is getting my dose. That being said, for anyone living on Pluto who doesn't know, the single BEST thing you can do to protect yourself at any time of year, not just the cold and flu season, is WASH YOUR DAMN, DIRTY HANDS. Wash them all the time, with the hottest water you can stand and regular soap. I say this because working (and now living) in NYC, I regularly ride the subways and buses and we know that means I come into contact daily with poop, Ebola, and other assorted micro-organisms smeared on the handrails and seats of public transporation, doornobs, and any piece of common office equiptment available. I make it a routine practice to wash anytime I come in from outside and even though I'm a nervous, hand-wringing, anxiety-prone, worry wart, I've consciously willed myself to stop my neurotic ticks like fiddling with my contacts and picking my nose. Keep your damn, dirty hands away from your face! My new best friend is antibacterial hand sanitizer which I have stashed at home, in the office, and in the cars. I use it anytime I can't get to a sink to wash and periodically throughout the day. Are antibacterial washes helping to create antibiotic-resistant super strains? Uh, maybe...but then again, that's someone elses poop you just touched during that handshake or on that cup of Dunkin Doughnut's coffee someone just handed you.