Flu Scare Dwindles, Don't Let Hand Hygiene Drop Too

A few weeks ago the H1N1 virus scare was at it's height. Everyone, including the president, was urging fellow citizens to wash their hands to protect themselves. In fact a phone survey in early May found that 67% of adults said they or others in their homes were washing their hands more often, reported the Harvard School of Public Health. CDC officials said this increase would help in other areas than just the H1N1 virus. Now that the scare has seemed to die down a bit, will people continue their rigorous handwashing?

"'m sure there are more people washing hands, but I don't think it's going to last," says B. Susie Craig, a food safety specialist and hand-washing expert. Changing behavoir is hard; if it wasn't, there wouldn't be such a problem with infection control. Experts say that it takes around a month to develop a new habit, so if you started a rigorous handwashing campaign last month in response to the H1N1 scare, keep it up and you'll be safer in the end.

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