Did you know? The average kitchen chopping board has around 200% more fecal bacteria on it than a toilet seat.

Even though this may not be the most pleasant of thoughts, it may make you want to take a minute or two to try to really notice what your hands are doing. How many times do you touch your face to scratch your head or adjust your glasses? Imagine how many times you rub your eyes, mess with your hair or hold the phone close to your mouth in a day.

Think back to all of the objects you may have touched since the last time you washed your hands today. If it’s the morning, maybe you grabbed a cup of coffee from the office pot. Maybe you took the car to run errands, touching the door handle, steering wheel and gear shift. Maybe you visited the grocery store today and touched a basket that hundreds of others have touched before you. And now, you’re touching your face.

This is why it can be so easy to spread infections such as the cold and flu.

The easiest way to prevent the spread of infections is through washing or sanitizing your hands often throughout the day.

It’s especially important to wash hands with soap and water:

• Before eating
• After using the restroom
• When your hands are visibly dirty

Any other time, using hand sanitizer is a perfect way to ensure clean hands throughout the day.

Ochsner Health is doing its part to make sure that the hands that treat our patients, are clean. But it’s up to you as a patient of any healthcare facility to stay healthy when you’re out of the hospital. Keeping hands clean is the best and most important way to prevent the spread of illness.