Table of contents:
- 1. Wash your hands regularly
- 2. Use a mouth mask
- 3. Don't share personal items
- 4. Avoid touching eyes, nose and mouth with dirty hands
- 5. Do not snack carelessly
- 6. Do not leave the house when sick
Did you know that infections can be transmitted anytime, anywhere, and through any medium, even from things that you are not aware of? Infectious diseases can cause health problems from trivial to serious. For that, the best way to maintain health is to prevent infections from coming, especially for those of you who have a weak immune system. Here are various infection prevention methods that you can practice on a daily basis.
1. Wash your hands regularly
Hands are the part of the body that is most often used in daily activities. Starting from spending money, holding the doorknob, to shaking hands with people you meet can make your hands no longer sterile.
In fact, the microbes that cause disease will continue to stick to your hands until you clean them. The invisible bacteria makes you "forget" that your hands seem clean and you eat right away without washing your hands first.
As a result, stomach pain, diarrhea, and other digestive problems can strike you. As a way to prevent the spread of infection that originates from your hands, you need to adopt this hand washing habit.
The Indonesian Ministry of Health recommends washing hands with soap (CTPS) as a measure to prevent infection, especially when:
- Before eating
- Before handling, processing and preparing food
- After defecating
- After making contact with animals, land, and public facilities, such as public transportation.
For optimal infection prevention, try to wash your hands with soap for 20 seconds. Clean all parts of the hands from the palms and the back of the hands to between the fingers and nails. Rinse under running water and dry your hands using a clean dry tissue or cloth.
2. Use a mouth mask
Covering the nose and mouth using a mask is an effective way to prevent the spread of bacterial, viral, or other disease-causing microbial infections.
The air you breathe every day is inseparable from bacteria, viruses, and parasites that can enter and attack your immune system. Especially if you frequently use public facilities.
Transmission of disease in transport and public places can spread very quickly. This is especially true if you are next to a sick person who is sneezing or coughing. This method is also generally the mode of transmission of several respiratory diseases caused by viruses, such as flu and COVID-19.
The virus that is released when you cough or sneeze, can be inhaled so that it makes you contract the disease. To prevent infection from close contact in public places and confined spaces, protect yourself by wearing a face mask.
3. Don't share personal items
Toothbrushes, towels, handkerchiefs, and cutlery are all personal items that should not be shared with other people. Using them interchangeably can make these items a source of transmission of infectious diseases.
Even if the person who wants to borrow looks healthy, you never know someone's health condition from the outside. Not only that, you also don't know whether you can actually transmit diseases due to habits such as sharing eating utensils with other people.
Therefore, using personal items without sharing them with others is an important habit to implement for the prevention of infectious diseases.
Daily habits are not only useful for protecting your health, but also preventing the spread of infection to other people around you.
4. Avoid touching eyes, nose and mouth with dirty hands
Touching your eyes, nose, mouth and mouth with dirty hands can transfer germs that are on your hands into your body. The nose is a warm and humid part of the body that is a favorite place for viruses and bacteria to breed.
In addition, the eyes and mouth are parts of the body covered with wet tissue (mucosa) which can easily trap bacteria to live and develop.
As a way to prevent infection, don't touch these three parts and other parts of your body when your hands are dirty. The reason is, even hands that look clean are still at risk of transmitting disease-causing germs that can enter and infect the body.
Before touching your eyes, nose and mouth, make sure you wash your hands first. Healthy habits to prevent infection are quite difficult to implement, but you can start by avoiding touching your face with your hands too often.
5. Do not snack carelessly
Are you one of those who like to snack? If you want to prevent infection, from now on, make sure you are even more observant before buying roadside food. Food purchased outside is not guaranteed cleanliness, both from the manufacturing and storage processes.
For that, be smart in choosing snacks. Not that you shouldn't, but try to buy food that is kept in closed storefronts for infection prevention. Avoid choosing to buy food that is left open without any cover.
Foods that are left open are more likely to be contaminated with other substances that can cause infection. In addition, try to see if the seller pays attention to the cleanliness of his wares, which can be seen from the cleanliness of the shop windows and the eating utensils they use.
6. Do not leave the house when sick
When sick, the immune system weakens. Traveling outside the room not only spreads your illness to others, it also risks making your situation worse.
Being outdoors increases your risk of contracting other diseases from people around you who may also be sick. To prevent infection, it's a good idea to rest at home so that your body condition returns to normal.
Preventing is always better than curing. That is why, make sure you apply the various infection prevention steps above in a disciplined manner in order to live a healthy life.
