Avoid your T-Zone to avoid infection

Imagine how great it would be if you or your family didn’t get sick from a respiratory infection.

What infections are these you may ask? They include, for example, flu, flu-like illness, adeno virus, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), common cold, conjunctivitis, pharyngitis, tonsillitis, bronchitis, bronchiolitis, pneumonia, Coxsackie virus, Streptococcus, Pneumoccous, tuberculosis, and more.

Providers at the Specialty Clinics of Sweetwater Memorial, as well as the physicians in the emergency room and on the medical/surgical floor at Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County, say there has been a rapid increase in the number of people with flu and RSV, said Corey Worden, MHSC’s new Infection Prevention Coordinator. Children, the elderly and those who are immunocompromised are most at risk.

The best way to prevent the flu, COVID-19, epidemics and pandemics is to avoid direct contamination. You can block the pathway to infection by not touching your T-Zone: eyes, nose and mouth, Worden said.

Direct contamination of your mucus membranes is the most common way infectious disease enters the body. The T-Zone is the only portal of entry into the human body for ALL respiratory infections.

Practicing the 4 Principles of Hand Awareness behaviors will ensure you stay well, according to the Henry the Hand Foundation. Imagine never having the flu or COVID-19. The 4 Principles of Hand Awareness will help keep you and your family healthy:

1. WASH your hands when they are dirty and BEFORE eating.

2. DO NOT cough into your hands.

3. DO NOT sneeze into your hands.

4. DO NOT put your fingers into your eyes, nose, or mouth.

The 4 Principles of Hand Awareness have been endorsed by the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Family Physicians.

National Handwashing Awareness Week is Dec. 4-10. Spread the word not the germs, and check out the Henry the Hand “linking” cleans hands across America and the World on Dec. 7. For details, go to henrythehand.com.