Hygiene

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• Hand washing
• Food
• Personal hygiene
• Body odour
• For girls
• For boys
• bad breath
• Travelling and hygiene
• Safety and blood

Hygiene is important for anyone taking care of children and one of the most effective ways we have to protect ourselves, and others, from illness. Hygiene means washing your hands especially, but also washing the rest of your body. It means taking care when handling and storing food. It also means being careful not to cough or sneeze on others, cleaning things that you touch, throwing away things such as tissues that might have germs on them and using protection when you might be at risk of catching some infections.

Hand washing

Most of the infections we get, especially colds and gastro, we catch when our hands get germs on them, and we then put them in our mouth.

Some illnesses we can get when other people's dirty hands touch the food that we eat. So it is important to keep hands as clean as possible, particularly if you are around food.

Some of the times that it is important to wash hands are:

• after using the toilet 
• before making or eating food 
• after handling dogs or other animals 
• if you have been around someone who is coughing or has a cold. You can, of course, also catch the germs if you breathe in the air that they have just filled with germs when they coughed or sneezed.

Washing hands

• Use clean water and soap (or alternative) over your hands and wrists.
• Use a brush to get under nails if they are dirty as well.
• Use something clean to dry hands, such as paper towel or a hot air dryer. 

Food

Food poisoning is an illness that you can develop after eating food that has harmful germs in it, or food which contains a toxin (poison) made by some germs. This is called contaminated food. You can feel sick, vomit, have abdominal (tummy) pains and diarrhoea (runny poo), starting a couple of hours to a day or so after eating the contaminated food. You usually can't tell if food has been contaminated because the germs usually don't make the food smell or taste different.

• Always have clean hands before you eat or prepare food.
• When you are preparing the food, keep the area that you are working on clean.
• Prepare raw and cooked foods on separate work areas with separate knives, spoons and other utensils.
• Wash all food that will be eaten raw (such as fruit and vegetables) in clean water.
• Maintain the correct temperature when storing foods.
• Keep perishable food, such as fresh meat, milk and vegetables, refrigerated. 
• Do not thaw frozen foods at room temperature (keep them in a fridge). 
• Serve hot food when it is hot, and cold food when it is cold. 
• Don't keep cooked food at room temperature; keep it either hot or cold. 
• If you are reheating foods, make sure the food gets hot right through. 
• When you have thawed frozen food, do not re-freeze it, and if you have re-heated food once already, don't let it get cold and then re-heat it again.

Personal hygiene

Ideas about ‘hygiene’ were first of all thought of to stop the spread of infection, but now we also use the word hygiene to mean the way to make sure that our body is acceptable to others.

What you do about personal hygiene is very much dependent on the culture in which you live.

In some groups it is expected that you will wash your body at least every day and use deodorants to stop body smells. In other groups different 'routines' may be usual.

Body odour

Some people do make judgements about others based on what they look like and what they smell like.

Body smells are:

• partly due to chemicals that the body makes (such as the pheromones or 'sexual' chemicals that attract (or repel) others) 
• partly due to things that the body is trying to get rid of through breathing them out (such as garlic and alcohol) 
• partly due to the actions of bacteria on the skin and clothes.

There are always bacteria on the skin which ‘feed’ on dead skin cells and fluids such as sweat. Some of these bacteria make chemicals which smell unpleasant, such as methane and hydrogen sulphide (rotten egg gas). Washing and using deodorants gets rid of many of these smelly chemicals for a while but they build up again every day.

Clothes (especially socks and underwear) can be smelly and unpleasant to others after they have been worn for more than one day.

Cigarette smoke, whether you are a smoker or are around people who smoke, can cling to your clothes with an unpleasant smell.

Making sure that underwear and socks are changed each day is usually the thing to do in places where it is easy to wash clothes. In some places this may not be possible.

Shoes often get very smelly. Put them outside to dry completely, killing the bacteria in them which make the smell.

Having clean hair is also something that many people prefer.

For girls

Vaginal hygiene
The vagina is an area of the body that is able to clean itself.

No special care is needed other than washing the outside of the genital area like you wash other areas (e.g. in a bath or a shower).

Putting anything into the vagina can damage the delicate skin inside, making it easier for germs to cause an infection. Tampons can damage the skin of the vagina, as can douches (preparations that can be bought to clean the vagina).

For boys

For most male babies and many young boys, the foreskin is attached to the glans (the tip of the penis).

Forcing it away from the glans may cause damage to the tip of the penis or the foreskin - so it is best not to force back an infant's foreskin.

Like every other part of the body, the tip of the penis and underneath the foreskin should be cleaned regularly once the foreskin moves easily. Don't use soap when washing under the foreskin because it can irritate the skin.

Boys should learn how to wash their penis and scrotum (balls) in the same way they learn how to wash other parts of their body.

With time the foreskin moves back more easily, and boys should be encouraged to wash under the foreskin every time they bath or shower.

The white stuff (smegma) under the foreskin is natural and does not cause health problems - it simply needs to be washed away regularly.

Bad breath

There are several things that can cause bad breath, for example, diseases of the teeth, gums and mouth, indigestion and some other health problems.

Most people have ‘bad breath’ first thing in the morning because not much saliva (which ‘washes’ the mouth) is made while they are asleep.

After having something to drink and eat, and when teeth are cleaned, the breath will smell better again.

Some things that you eat or drink can cause your breath to smell ‘bad’ for a while, such as garlic, onion and alcohol. The body gets rid of these unwanted chemicals by moving them from the blood in the lungs into the air that is breathed out. It can take many hours for the smell to disappear. Because the smell is in the air that is breathed out, cleaning teeth will not get rid of it.

Cigarette smoking can make breath smelly and stain teeth yellow.

Bad breath can also be caused by decaying teeth or a gum infection. There may be some bleeding from the gums. It is important to have regular visits to the dentist and brush and floss often.

Mouth washes, mouth sprays and flavoured chewing gum can make your breath smell better for a little while, but if you have a health problem in your mouth, the smell will come back, so see your dentist.

Travelling and hygiene

If you are not sure whether the water that you can use for hygiene is safe, take special care.

A shower with hot water is probably OK, but do not use tap water for cleaning your teeth unless you are very sure that it is safe.

If you need to use water that you are not sure about to wash your hands, make sure your hands are totally dry before you touch any food (and do not wash fruit or vegetables in unsafe water).

If you do not have a safe water supply, make sure the water is boiled before you drink it (it is usually recommended that the water be held at a rolling boil for a minute).

Make sure any washed dishes are clean and totally dry before they are used again.

Safety and blood

Infections can be passed from one person to another by contact with blood. It is wise to think of all blood as possibly infected so that you always do the things you need to do to keep yourself safe. However:

• Touching blood with your hand or other part of your skin will not give you an infection if your skin is 'intact' (there are no sores or cuts on your skin). 
• If the blood is dry it will usually be safe. Germs mostly only live for a short time, only a few minutes when they are dry and outside of the body. 
• You will not get an infection if the other person did not have an infection.

If someone is bleeding and needs your help:

• Try to make sure that you do not touch the blood or injured part of that person's body if you can. 
• You could wear plastic gloves or cover your hand with plastic wrap or a plastic bag. 
• You could give the dressing to the injured person to hold on the wound while you stay close and give your support.

If you do need to touch something with blood on it, or you do so accidentally, it is unlikely that you will get an infection, since most blood-borne infections need blood to blood contact (e.g. through sharing drug injecting equipment or getting blood into a cut that you already have on your body). If you are concerned, see your doctor who will be able to talk about the risk, and have blood tests done if needed.

Dried blood on tampons or pads used during a menstrual period, or on used tissues will not cause an infection, but they are unpleasant for others to have to touch, so make sure you dispose of them carefully. Wrap them in paper and put them into a bin. Do not flush them down the toilet.

Some blood-borne infections can be passed on during sexual intercourse. You can protect yourself from infection by practising safe sex and always using condoms.

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