Identifying and cleaning touchpoints is the best practice to control the spread of germs in homes, schools, and businesses. Touchpoints are the places where germs can sit and wait to infect the next person.
The “handshake” is the ultimate touchpoint where we transfer communicable diseases to each other in the name of greeting each other. We do this ritual everywhere from the workplace, and grocery store to our houses of worship. In times of communicable diseases, the elbow bump makes a lot more sense than the handshake.
Other common touchpoints are light switches, doorknobs, the back of chairs, restaurant menus, faucet and refrigerator handles. Less obvious touchpoints are the food storage container, the juice bottle, the top of a chair you pull out or the kitchen counter. Use the office microwave or use a grocery store cart? Well, you get the picture.
In the cases where someone in a home has a serious illness such as C-Diff or MRSA, every linen, TV remote or candy dish they touched can be the source of reinfection. The more serious the illness and worse the immune system of occupants, the more critical disinfection of a property becomes to stop the spread of an illness.
The good news is that there are some excellent disinfection systems and programs that were originally designed for medical facilities that are now available for use in any type of property. Once we identify a risk, we can implement effective solutions for just about every cause of Sick Building Syndrome.
Suggestions for Stopping the Spread of Illness in the Home
It is really, really hard to pay attention to details and healthy practices when we are sick with a nasty bug. The only way this works in most households is to put these habits into practice before there is a sick person in the home. If you don’t have disposable plates and cups in the cupboard before illness, you are not going to the store to buy them after you are tending the sick.
Suggestions for Stopping the Spread of Illness in the Workplace
The best solution is to have a plan in place before dealing with the illness and human resource challenges that a sick workforce can bring to a professional organization. There are consultants that can set programs in place that can work for just about any facility. It is a matter of their establishing a system of communicating responsibility and direction for the workforce.
The New Technology for High Risk Patients or Serious Illnesses
“Touchless Disinfection” is the new “hospital grade” answer to serious disease contagions. This name is not descriptive, so please let me describe the process.
Before this process is started, all of the touchpoints should be disinfected as a pre-treatment to extend the time that the treatment is effective.
A specialized fine mist spray equipment device is placed in each sealed room. The ultra-fine mist of hydrogen peroxide and silver nitrate penetrates into cracks and crevices of the room and effectively kills the biological contaminants.
The advantage of this process is that it gets all of the surfaces. By comparison, human workers are usually not that effective. The room must remain sealed and can’t be entered until the end of the cycle when the peroxide product breaks down into harmless components.
Though originally designed and predominantly used in medical facilities, the health of a patient at home is as important as it is in a hospital room. Equipment to perform the treatment can be purchased, or the work can be done by trained professionals as a service. This is a new service and not available in all areas.
For links and additional information about disease control and disinfection, go to: www.PittsburghMoldTesting.com/diseasecontrol