Children are germ magnets. At daycare, at the playground or at school, unsanitary habits -- whether your child's or someone else's -- can cause her to come down with one illness after another. By teaching your child how to prevent the spread of illness, you can protect her from colds, the flu and other unpleasant diseases.
Hand Washing
Children should wash their hands at least five times daily, since a person's hands spread 80 percent of all infections, according to the BC Centre for Disease Control. To prevent the transmission of germs, children should wash their hands before eating or preparing food, and after playing outdoors, petting animals, coughing or sneezing. To properly wash their hands, children should lather them with soap for 20 seconds -- making sure to clean their knuckles, between their fingers and under their fingernails -- and then rinse for 10 seconds under running water.
Coughing Etiquette
Children should cough into the crook of their arm when they cough. If they cough without covering their mouths at all, germs can spread through the air and infect someone standing nearby. If they cough into their hand, the next time they touch a doorknob, toy or person's hand, they can leave germs behind. Some bacteria and viruses can live on an object for hours, potentially infecting the next person to touch the object.
Sneezing Hygiene
Children should properly dispose of tissues immediately after sneezing into them. Ideally, they should throw them away in a trash container with a pop-up lid so they don't have to touch the container itself, possibly leaving bacteria or viruses behind. If children drop used tissues on a table or the floor, secretions on the tissue could infect the child or adult who picks up the tissue to throw it away.
Not Sharing Personal Items
Children should never share their food or drinks. A sick child transfers illness-causing germs in his mouth to whatever he is eating and drinking. When he shares the food or drink, he also shares his illness. Sharing food and drinks can also cause a child to contract an illness if he picks up germs that are in the other person's mouth or on her hands if she hasn't washed properly.
Immunizations
Children should be immunized against a number of dangerous diseases, such as whooping cough, measles, polio and meningitis. Childhood vaccinations have reduced the spread of these illnesses so sharply that they are virtually unheard of now, according to MayoClinic.com. Some children can't receive vaccines because of a previous life-threatening reaction to a vaccine or a medical condition, such as cancer. When immunization rates remain high in a community, the fact that most people can't catch or spread these diseases helps protect children who can't be immunized against them.
References
- BC Centre for Disease Control: A Quick Guide to Common Childhood Diseases
- Scholastic: Preventing the Spread of Germs
- MayoClinic.com: Staying Healthy in School: Kid-Friendly Tips
- Minnesota Department of Health: 5 Common Ways Germs Are Spread
- MayoClinic.com: Childhood Vaccines -- Tough Questions, Straight Answers
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Who Should NOT Get Vaccinated With These Vaccines?
