Scrubbing your hands clean: how long do you scrub?

[Khan]

When I was a kid, mothers would tell their children to wash up for supper. It was customary to wash one's hands before eating. What ever happened to that? It seems like a good thing to do, but I don't think I've seen anybody actually doing that for the past fifty years.

My mother always said to wash for 2 minutes, but then my mother wasn't always there when I was washing my hands....

After the anthrax scare, hand sanitizer became very popular in my (federal) office. It was available in the bathrooms and even left by the mailboxes so that we could sanitize our hands after touching our mail. That eased some minds, but I always wondered if it would be of any help at all if we really encountered anthrax powder, and a cupful of it fell out of a package all over someone.

I think that as a retiree, I will probably get fewer colds because I will be exposed to fewer people when gardening or reading at home than I would be at work. Sounds plausible! I guess I will find out later on this year.

That was my experience. I had a mild cold about 2 weeks ago; was the first in 2 years. Probably got it from the housekeeper (she has young children).

 

[Orchidflower]

If the eating dirt thing worked, I should have the best immune system in the world, but I don't. My mother had to take me to the Dr. when I was a little kid because I ate moss and dirt from the ground. It was pretty and green, so why not?
Want2Retire is right: nobody does seem to go wash their hands before eating anymore. I just never thought of that till now; however, my friends and I sit at the table and Purell our hands before eating. That's the lazy way, huh?

 

[samclem]

On a related note: I read today that Tamiflu, one of the very few drugs proven to help reduce the length and severity of influenza after it has been contracted, is losing effectiveness. In CDC tests this winter, Tamiflu was ineffective in over 98% of patients infected with the year's most common flu strain.

Experts don't believe the virus became resistant to Tamiflu because the drug was overused, but that the resistance mutation became prevalent for other reasons.

Also of note: Millions of doses of Tamiflu are stockpiled in the US and elsewhere as a primary defense against the rapid spread of the Avian Flu virus. I don't know if these strains have developed Tamiflu resistance, but it may be only a matter of time.

So--keep washing those hands!

 

[TromboneAl]

Researcher Closer To Finding Cure For Common Cold | I Really Should Study!

 

[haha]

Researcher Closer To Finding Cure For Common Cold | I Really Should Study!

Read the last paragraph! What does this clown mean by "obtrusive pulmonary disease"? Aren't medical and science writers supposed to be a little better informed than this?

I guess they figure it rhymes with obstructive, and starts with an O, so why not?

Ha

 

[ERD50]

Lower than Corona? Double yuck. I'll take a Negro Modelo or a Pacifico. Dos Equis will do in a pinch.

Actually, the BJCP lists Negra Modelo as a good example of a Vienna lager.

BJCP 2008 Style Guidelines - Category 03

3A. Vienna Lager

History: The original amber lager developed by Anton Dreher shortly after the isolation of lager yeast. Nearly extinct in its area of origin, the style continues in Mexico where it was brought by Santiago Graf and other Austrian immigrant brewers in the late 1800s. Regrettably, most modern examples use adjuncts which lessen the rich malt complexity characteristic of the best examples of this style. The style owes much of its character to the method of malting (Vienna malt). Lighter malt character overall than Oktoberfest, yet still decidedly balanced toward malt.

Commercial Examples: Great Lakes Eliot Ness (unusual in its 6.2% strength and 35 IBUs), Boulevard Bobs 47 Munich-Style Lager, Negra Modelo, Old Dominion Aviator Amber Lager, Gordon Biersch Vienna Lager, Capital Wisconsin Amber, Olde Saratoga Lager, Penn Pilsner

-ERD50

 

[ERD50]

Anybody ever try this stuff?

Theakston Old Peculier - T & R Theakston Ltd. - BeerAdvocate

-ERD50

 

[ERD50]

Oh yeah - washing hands. Thought this was a beer thread.

You know what creeps me out? The chain restaurants have those little remote thingees that light up to tell you when your table is ready - and everybody sits there holding them for 1/2 an hour. Hands all over 'em, getting sweaty palms and everything. We always look at the thing when they hand it to us like - is that clean?

They out to give it to you in a disposable baggie. Gross. Hotel or waiting room remotes too. Yuck.


-ERD50