Good practices for infection prevention at home

Alt-tag: Hand washing is a way of infection prevention at home

Nowadays, hand sanitizer dispensers have become everyone’s essential household item that helps with infection prevention at home. However, even though they are crucial, there is plenty more you should do to ensure your home is germ-free and your loved ones are safe and healthy. To help you keep your home infection-free, in this article, you’ll find out how infections are transmitted and how to prevent them at your home.

How are infections transmitted?

Understanding how infections are transmitted can help you avoid them. Not so long ago, no one understood infectious diseases. Scientists didn’t know that they were caused by microorganisms that moved from one person to another. Even nowadays, when we have access to different information and research, we still don’t know a lot about them.

What is known about microbes is that they enter our bodies through our mouths, noses, ears, anuses, and genitals. Alternatively, they can enter through our skin through insect or animal bites. The most effective way to prevent infections is to block pathogens from entering your body.

Tips for infection prevention at home

COVID-19 pandemic showed us that infection prevention is critical. To help you keep yourself and your loved ones safe, you can find simple tips further in this article.

Good hygiene habits

Good personal hygiene is essential and the first line of defense from germs. By adopting and nurturing good hygiene habits, you can prevent an infection before it begins. Also, make sure to teach your kids the importance of good personal hygiene.

Captions: It’s very important to adopt good hygiene habits so make sure to teach them.

Alt-tag: A girl washing her hands with alcohol based hand sanitiser

Here’s what to pay attention to the most when it comes to your personal hygiene:

• If COVID-19 though us anything, it is the importance of handwashing. Besides washing your hands after using the bathroom or before preparing or eating food, it’s also vital to wash hands after blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing. Make sure to thoroughly clean them after feeding or stroking your pet or visiting or caring for a sick person. With the current pandemic situation in mind, the good idea is to place hand sanitizer dispensers all over your home where every member of your household can easily reach them.
• Another good way to prevent infections in your home is to always cover coughs. Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue and make sure to dispose of it. If you don’t have a tissue at hand, cough or sneeze into your elbow, not your hands.
• Make sure to wash and bandage all cuts. In case you’ve been seriously cut by an animal or human, make sure to have it examined by a doctor. Also, don’t pick at healing wounds or blemishes.
• Keep in mind that sharing dishes, glasses, or eating utensils is not hygienic, no matter how close you might be to the person. You should avoid direct contact with handkerchiefs, napkins, tissues, or similar items used by others.

Keep it clean

To keep your home safe from infections and germ-free, you need to make sure it’s always clean. Dirty places are suitable grounds for germs and bacteria to grow. If you also have issues with moisture in your home, there is a risk of attracting mold. All of them can cause serious health problems.

To be on the safe side, make sure to regularly clean your home. As clutter can attract dirt and dust, make sure to periodically throw away unnecessary things. The good idea is to have your home deep cleaned at least once a year, too.

You also need to make sure to keep other places you regularly visit as clean as possible. For instance, always make sure your work desk is clean and disinfected. Pay special attention to cleaning your keyboard and mouse. Also, let’s say you’re moving and planning to use a storage unit in the process. You need to make sure to keep it safe and germ-free, as otherwise, you are risking bringing infection into your home.

Practice good food safety

Paying attention to food hygiene is another important way to prevent infections at home. Even though most food-borne diseases are not dangerous, some of them can still lead to severe medical conditions. A suitable method for infection prevention at home is to prepare and store foods safely.

Here are some simple ways to help you avoid introducing new microbes into food at your home:

• Before cooking or serving, make sure to rinse all meat, poultry, fish, fruits, and vegetables under running water.
• If you are about to handle raw meat, make sure to wash your hands with soap and water.
• You should separate cooked and raw foods. Also, make sure you don’t use the same utensils with cooked meat that you used to prepare raw meat before washing them.
• Make sure to cook food thoroughly. The best way to go is to use a meat thermometer and know for sure your food is fully cooked.
• When defrosting foods, make sure to do it only in the refrigerator or in the microwave.

Keep your home pest-free

Controlling the rat and mice population near your home is essential for keeping your home disease-free. As rodents can harbor a number of pathogens, keeping them as far away as possible from your home should be one of your priorities.

Here’s what you can do to avoid getting sick from an animal transmitted disease:

• Ensure your food and garbage are kept in covered, rodent-proof containers and cabinets.
• It’s essential to check if there are any holes or cracks in your home. If you find any, make sure to seal them.
• When you are cleaning a rodent-infested area, make sure not to stir up dust. Instead, use a wet mop or sponge to wipe that area and then treat it with disinfectant.
• If you’re facing a severe and persistent rodent problem in your home, consult professionals.

Don’t neglect infection prevention at home

Infection prevention at home is critical, especially nowadays and with the current pandemic situation in mind. Hopefully, we were able to stress the importance of keeping your home germ-free and that our advice helps you find easy ways to achieve it. We wish you a safe, healthy, and Happy New Year 2022.

 

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