The Most Important Day of the Hand Hygiene Year Is Coming…

A few years back, when I started #handhygiene as a hub for all information on Twitter dealing with handwashing and sanitizer use, I had hoped to develop a community that would openly and freely express its passion for keeping those hands clean.

In 2013, information on hand hygiene has become a staple on Twitter and grown into other areas of social media to encompass blogs, YouTube sites, Facebook sites such as the Hand Hygiene Project, Pinterest pages, and even Reddit.  Pretty much anywhere you look in social media, you’ll find someone, somewhere has devoted some space to promote and share information and stories on hand hygiene.

But while #handhygiene has been a great start, no organization has a greater impact than the World Health Organization and their SAVE LIVES:  Clean Your Hands campaign, which celebrates annually on May 5th.  I consider this to be the most important day in hand hygiene.

The campaign was initially targeted at healthcare facilities and those who work tirelessly to keep up healthy.  While their work is exemplary in so many ways, there was one problem that continued to affect not only the success of their efforts but also the people who entered these clinics looking for help…

Nosocomial infections or as they are better known as: Health Care Acquired Infections.

Granted, these types of infections have been known for hundreds of years. If they hadn’t been around, we might not have had the introduction of hand hygiene as a practice brought to us by pioneers such as Ignaz Semmelweis and Joseph Lister.  But the problem wasn’t solved by the introduction of more modern hospitals and increased technology.  No matter what may have been implemented to help improve the benefit of the patient (call it quality of care), those pesky infections transferred from hands continued.

The challenges were shown to be even greater when researcher widened the scope from doctors and nurses to well, everybody.  There might have been some issue with a lack of proper adherence to hand hygiene by professionals but that was nothing compared to the rate in the general public.  There was little to deny that while people may profess that they have clean hands, there isn’t many who actually wash them.

Ironically, there was one way to ensure that people (and healthcare workers) washed:

WATCH THEM…

A study conducted a few years back with the intention of determining the actual rate of hand hygiene in the public revealed something a little different.  If someone was being watched, even casually, then that person was more likely to perform handwashing.

With that information out, the answer to all hand hygiene champions was quite simple: peer pressure works!

(Okay, we all knew that thanks to smoking and drinking).

But that realization sparked a new direction for the promotion of hand hygiene from the walls of health care to the open air of the public forum.  Today, champions influence not by sharing statistics and research papers although there are still plenty of those.  Instead, the messages are manifested in calls to those who are tired of (and possibly sick from) a lack of proper adherence to what is the simplest, easiest and most effective way to prevent infection spread.

As May 5th approaches, there is something different going on in social media and it directly involves you, the reader and everyone around you.  While SAVE LIVES focuses on including institutions into a global hand hygiene pledge, the rest of us can take a similar pledge, a personal pledge, to do our best to improve hand hygiene everywhere else.  Best of all, it’s easy to take and there’s not much required afterwards.

All you need to do is:

1. Take the pledge!  

 ”I, [YOUR NAME] pledge that I will be a part of a
global movement to improve hand hygiene!”

 2. Wash your hands! 

3. Tell everyone you know about the pledge and let them
know that when you are together, you will be ‘watching them’.
(BTW, it’s cooler if you use Mr. Smith’s voice from the Matrix
check this out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loinY8MmVq8)

4. Have fun.  

Let’s face it, hand hygiene, shouldn’t be taken too seriously.  After all, it is a fun act that can be enjoyed by everyone.  It can calm the soul and offer us a brief retreat from the day to day grind.  It’s simple, inexpensive and yes, goes a very long way to help to save a sniffle and even a life.

So, as we head to May 5th, I invite you to leave me a comment to let me know that you have taken the pledge.

For those of you who are more involved in social media, leave me a Tweet at @JATetro so that I can share it with the world.

As to those who know how to make a short video, post your best “Mr. Smith” impersonation of your pledge to watch and I’ll share it here, on Facebook and Twitter.

Happy Hand Hygiene Day to everyone!

New City, Same Germy Fun…

Hey everyone,

As some of you may have seen, I’m in the process of moving from Ottawa to Toronto. I’m in T.O. now and starting to settle in.

I’ll have more to say on the move and the reasons for it later but wanted to share the news and also my excitement for what is to come.

If you are in Toronto and want to meet up or have any great places and/or events to share, leave me a comment below.

Have a great week ahead!

The #H5N1 debate continues…and now EPRC is getting involved

UPDATE! Apparently an hour after this document went live, the White House released a statement that they have a proposed policy.  You can read it here:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2013/02/21/
proposed-policy-targets-dual-use-research-concern

You will also notice that the date of release is slated for tomorrow.

Coincidence?  I’ll let you decide…

————————————————————————————-
About this time last year, the research world was embroiled in a mess of apparent apocalyptic proportions.  A group out of the Netherlands and another out of the U.S. had attempted to publish scientific articles that were deemed highly controversial and were for a period of time held back from publication.

The move made headlines and led to some rather interesting headlines in the public and led to an extended debate on the nature of such “dual use” research.  The major battle focused on the need for such apparently risky experimental work.  Those who believed it was necessary focused on the need to keep up with Mother Nature and be ahead of the curve than behind it.  Those who were against it felt that there was simply too much risk associated with the work and that deadly flu strains could either escape or be used for terrorism.

Over the last year, there has been a moratorium on the work with H5N1 in ferrets and other mammals although that ended a few weeks ago.  Yet some labs are still not able to do their work as they await rules and policies from governments.

The policies are designed to:

1. ensure the work is not only known by the government biosafey and biosecurity organizations
2. monitor and manage the work to prevent any problems arising from the work or, quite possibly, from the mouths of researchers all too willing to overstate their findings.

At that time, in the role of Coordinator at the Emerging Pathogens Research Centre, I had the opportunity to co-author a white paper on what we felt was needed in such policy.  We passed it around to other researchers and policymakers and had very good feedback.  We felt that it could make a difference and expected to see some hint of our model in these policies.

However, as these policies have yet to emerge, we simply are not sure.

Which is why today, a year after the call for dual use research policy, EPRC has released its white paper to the public.  It focuses on a process known as the Institutional Risk Assessment Process (IRAP although I still prefer iRAP) and deals with the need to have a balanced system of information sharing that welcomes all interested parties – or stakeholders if you wish – to the table.

You can click on the image to get to the website and read the reasoning for putting this document together.  I know that it is a bit intense at times but I hope that the message is conveyed without too much consternation.  I also know this is a bit more of a niche but many have asked me what I do in my real day job.  Well, this will give you a little peek into the fun world in which I work.

As always, I would love to hear your thoughts.

A Top Germy Tweeter!

Today I was surprised with a lovely message:

The Huffington Post has placed me as one of the
Top 50 Healthy Living and Fitness Tweeters in Canada.

I’m really excited about the honour but have to admit that the road to getting here was not an easy one.

When I first started using Twitter in 2009, I had no idea what I was doing.  I tried a tweet here and there but never really found a groove.  It took a year before I found a reason to tweet and it turned into a passion – you probably know it better as #handhygiene.  The hashtag helped me learn even more about how to use the social media tool and thanks to some very awesome mentors, I gained not only a voice but also a method to use that voice. 

Evangelism – or more specifically Germevangelism.

I have to admit that when I first came up with the term, I wasn’t sure it would take off. But the last year has been a delight and I am proud to be a germevangelist.  So much so that it looks to be the direction of my future.  I’ll share more on that when the time comes.

For now, I hope you don’t mind me sharing my joy and accept my thanks for being there with me over these years.  You’re why I do this…

I would love to hear your thoughts. 

Flu Season is Here and the Germs are Spreading Fast!

I was quite interested to hear that the CDC has said that the flu season has come early this year and seems to be “ramping up.”  For me, this seemed like a rather odd statement to make.  After all, right after Hurricane Sandy hit the New York and New Jersey area, I was convinced that the flu would swoop in and cause havoc and pandemonium. It didn’t. Actually, back when Sandy hit at the end of October, the CDC flu map showed relatively little activity.

But since then, as the headlines have said, the flu made a jump in cases and today, it’s sweeping the nation. Rather than tell this to you, I thought I would show it to you.

Thanks to the CDC Seasonal Flu website, there is a map that highlights where flu cases are being reported all over the country.  I’ve compiled the last month and a half summaries and put them into the figure below.

As you can see, the colours represent the level of infection in the different States.  From October 6 to November 24, the rate of flu went from practically nothing to covering over half the country.  Now that is a fast rate! But what does all this mean?  Well…

1. The flu is coming so be prepared.
2. If you are going to get the vaccine, make sure you do it soon.
3. If you know that you will be travelling, make sure that you are aware of the situation and keep yourself at the ready for any signs of infected people (Granted, it’s not The Walking Dead but it’s still a pain to get sick whilst away from home)
4. This isn’t a pandemic.  This is simply a more rapidly spreading flu that happens every now and then.  We’re not expecting to be plunged back into the days of 2009 when the ‘swine flu’ was around.

Over the coming weeks as we head to Christmas, we’ll learn more about the spread of this virus and whether or not we are going to see a long flu season or one that will burn itself out quickly.  Either way, no one should be overly concerned.  The flu season is as common as the change of the seasons.  Sometimes they happen just as anticipated and other times, they are unpredictable.

The key to staying healthy is to be sure to keep your eye on the great surveillance that is happening (for Canadians, use FluWatch) and be sure to adhere to the advice and recommendations at these websites.

And as always, if you have any questions, just ask them below.

A Change for The Germ Guy

Hi everyone,

As you may know, in addition to my work in the public as The Germ Guy, I’m also a member of the staff at the University of Ottawa and for years, have been granted the association with the institution as a member of their media experts.

Well, all good things must come to an end.

Due to some internal directives, I’ve been asked to disassociate myself from the University in the public.  The reasons don’t need to be discussed here but for the future, anything that you see here or any of my other contributions in the media will no longer have any link back to the University of Ottawa.

That being said, I also have some very good news to share!

Over the coming months, you’ll be seeing more of The Germ Guy as several new opportunities have come my way.  It’s still too early to talk about them but when they are made official, you’ll be the first ones to know!

Also…

As many of you know, I’ve been working on a book with DoubleDay in Canada and I’m happy to say that we have a title and a release date.  It’s still months away but come October 2013, you’ll be seeing The Germ Code in your local bookstore.  It’s been a fantastic experience and I am happy to say that the book will make a great addition to any home.

So, next year promises to be a fantastic one and I’m sure that it will surely make 2013: The Year of Germs – but more on that later.

Would love to hear your comments…

From Germ Wars to Zombie Apocalypse!

It’s that time of year again when the world starts to fear another pandemic that will sweep over the land, infecting everyone in sight and leaving thousands if not millions dying in its wake.

I’m not talking about flu, however, I’m talking about zombies!

As always around Halloween, spooky science emerges as the world aims to explain the nature and actions of some of our most revered – and feared – fictional characters.  The premise is quite sound and some of the theories have been even more interesting.

Take vampires for example.

We all know of their bloodsucking habit and the curse of immortality and how a simple bite can change one’s life forever.  From a scientific standpoint, this is no different than a retrovirus, such as HIV.  Once the virus gets into the blood, it can change the way the body functions.  Granted, there has yet to be a virus that gives an entire body immortality but even then, the chance is possible.  After all, many cancerous cells are immortal and in up to 40% of cases, the causative agent is a virus.

The premise is so real that there is a series of books and soon a television series
devoted to the vampire virus.  It’s called:  The Strain.

Zombies in Ottawa!

Now, Chris Lackner takes us on a journey of epidemic proportions as he takes a look at how a zombie outbreak would happen in Ottawa.

Chris called me a few weeks back and asked me to provide comments on a potential zombie outbreak, how it would spread across the city and what areas would be affected the most.  For those of you who live in Ottawa, I’m sure you will get a kick out of the discussion.  For those of you who don’t, just type a few of the names into Google Maps and start taking a look around.

You can read the story here:
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/story.html?id=7446274

Obviously the story was all in good fun but I have to admit that our discussions went quite heavily into the realm of microbiology, immunology and epidemiology.  I’d like to share that process with you.

• We went back and reviewed what happened during SARS, as well as the swine flu pandemic, and the most recent Ebola outbreaks in Africa.  The SARS model seemed to fit the best and so we chose to work with that in mind.

• We then discussed the kind of pathogen the zombie contagion would be.  A virus would be the most likely option so we ran with that. But what kind of virus?  Would it be a virus that acted immediately as in 28 Days Later or one that took its time before it took hold of the body like the one in George Romero’s Zombie movies?  If there was little no no lag time, then there wouldn’t be much of an outbreak.  But if there was between 24 and 48 hours, Ottawa was essentially doomed.  We chose that route.

• From there, we discussed all the different areas that would be ravaged as well as taking into account human tendencies including the fight or flight response.  Based on past research on disaster management, panic studies and the emotional effects of normal life, there was little doubt that the suburbs would be the worst off while high-income urban environments would be all bu decimated.  As for the inner city, there would be war, pure and simple.  The people with the greatest chance of survival are those living in rural areas.  That’s why I said people living in North Gower (about 30 min from the city) would have a better chance at missing the infection than those living in the Glebe (a higher income neighbourhood).  For the record, I live closer to the Glebe so I wasn’t playing favorites.

The discussion went on for about an hour and we had a blast with lots of laughs and a few very poignant parallels between the fictions epidemic and real ones.  While I understand this will most likely not end up being headline news, I hope that people take away from the article more than just the zombie punchline and realize that whatever happens in the fictional world, has and will surely occur in the real one.

If you wanted to learn more about the science behind zombies, I would recommend you pick up the book entitled appropriately…

That’s with three A’s, three I’s, three N’s and three S’s.  It’s a great book that looks at a zombie outbreak from a number of different perspectives including human rights, legal affairs and even landscape architecture.  It’s written by my colleague Robert Smith? and as you might figure, he’s featured quite nicely in this article as well.

You can get the book at the University of Ottawa Press:  http://www.press.uottawa.ca/book/braaaiiinnnsss

Enjoy the article and as always, I’m always interested in your amazing comments and questions!

PostScript…

I wanted to thank the tens of thousands of people who took part in the Germ Wars series. All the videos that aired, supplemental videos, the quiz and the webchat (thanks, DG) are all up on now so I encourage you to take a look!  You can see it all here:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/story/2012/10/19/f-ottawa-germ-wars.html