There are many articles available online and offline about how bacteria and viruses spread. Some are wildly inaccurate and cause panic, while others are good, solid advice that should be incorporated into your daily cleanliness regimes. 

If you are working in the medical industry (or food, elderly care, etc.), then this is even more prevalent. To help our growing audience of cleanliness heroes, we have put together the top three ways that bacteria and viruses spread. Let’s look at the top three spreading patterns.

Face Onto Hand To Others (FOHTO)

Bacteria and viruses like setting up little colonies in your nose (specifically near the exterior edges as they know they will be touched there), in the mouth (distributed to lips with the tongue) as well as in the eyes. Humans frequently touch their noses, mouths and eyes. They then touch surfaces, handles and other people’s hands. 

In other scenarios, the germs irritate your mucous membranes and cause the body to sneeze and cough or make the eyes itchy, bringing about rubbing. This proactive action is the germs’ way of launching themselves further afield. 

Before Covid-19 came along, the global tradition was to block an unexpected cough or sneeze with a hand. Now the norm is to use the crook of your elbow. After sneezing or coughing, it is still advisable to wash your hands, wrist, nose and/or mouth to dislodge any errant bugs. 

Washing hands with liquid soap or sanitising with a hand rub is the best way to avoid infections.

Hands OnTo Food (HOF)

If you are preparing food (whether for the public, your family or yourself), you most definitely want to wash your hands before, during and after prepping the food. As you work on the food, you will probably touch your face, hair or clothes, immediately transferring germs onto your fingers. Some very serious germs can be transmitted to food by dirty hands after a bathroom visit or from hands carrying infection from the nose, etc. Some of the resulting illnesses can be deadly for smaller children or fragile older people.

Food Onto Hands Onto Food (FOHOF)

Food can itself be a source of bacteria, such as sushi, steak and raw chicken left to thaw for just a little too long. It’s not necessarily at the stinky stage, but it could have germs happily replicating.

If you are handling raw proteins, you must wash your hands regularly and the taps you touched with your dirty hands. Repeat the wash. These germs can get passed onto “harmless” foods like salads. The raw protein is cooked and sterilised, but the salad is a ticking time bomb.

These may seem obvious, but you will be surprised how many times people skip these guidelines, so this is a helpful reminder. 

Stay safe and order your gentle-on-the-hands disinfectants and cleaners from Bawoma today.