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Communicable
Disease > Protect
Yourself
Wash
Your Hands
The
strongest defense against
communicable disease
is to WASH YOUR HANDS!
Hand sanitizer does
not replace handwashing;
washing your hands with
plain old soap and warm
water for at least 20
seconds is more effective
than sanitizing product
on the market.
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One
common question we receive
is "Why can the
doctors and nurses in
the hospital use hand
sanitizer but you say
it is not the best choice?"
Doctors and nurses in
the hospital are using
hand sanitizer to kill
germs they pick up when
moving between patients.
Whenever they get their
hands "dirty"
with bodily fluids,
etc., they must wash
their hands with soap
and water. You can compare
this to handwashing
in your daily life.
After using the bathroom,
handling raw meats,
or working outside in
the dirt, our hands
get dirty. They are
covered with fluids
or visible dirt particles
that must be washed
off. If you tried to
use sanitizer to remove
this "dirt,"
you would simply be
moving the dirt around,
not killing the germs.
If
you would like to learn
more about handwashing,
download handwashing
materials, or have our
handwashing trailer
come visit your facility,
please visit our Handwashing
Education page.
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Cook
Food Thoroughly
Another
important defense against
disease is to cook your food
thoroughly--and not just until
it looks done. There are specific
temperatures that your meat
should reach when cooking
and each home should have
a metal-stemmed thermometer
to measure food temperature.
| 145° |
Beef,
fish, pork, lamb, veal,
& egg dishes |
| 155° |
Ground
meat |
| 165° |
Poultry,
stuffed fish, stuffed
meat, stuffed pasta and
any stuffing with meat
products. |
| 165-170° |
Chicken
& turkey breasts,
leftovers |
| 165-180° |
Chicken
& turkey (whole birds,
legs, thighs & wings)
& ground poultry |
Prevent
Cross Contamination
When
unloading your groceries,
it is important to think about
more than what fits best on
each shelf. Putting meat on
the bottom shelf and ready-to-eat
foods on the top shelves helps
prevent cross contamination.
Since foods such as fruits
and vegetables are often not
cooked before they are served,
it is important to protect
them from meat drippings and
other sources of bacteria.
In addition, when preparing
foods, wash your hands after
handling raw meat and before
handling ready-to-eat foods.
| Vaccinate
Yourself and Your Family |
| It
is absolutely unnecessary
for people to suffer from
certain vaccine-preventable
diseases. Vaccines have
been developed to protect
against nearly 25 conditions.
These conditions wreaked
havoc on communities in
years past, but because
of a nationwide vaccination
effort, children now don't
have to worry about these
diseases. For more information
on vaccinations, please
visit our Immunization
page. |
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Last
Updated
Friday, March 12, 2010 10:12 AM
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