|
There are many types of germs (viruses, bacteria, parasites, fungi) that cause many infectious diseases such as influenza, Lyme disease, hantavirus, the plague or HIV/AIDs. These germs can spread easily from one person to another, with wide-reaching and serious health consequences.
Centers for Disease Control’s
Ounce of Prevention Campaign
Aimed at Stopping Spread of Infection |
Prevention is Key for MRSA
MRSA infection is an infection with a strain of Staphylococcus aureus bacteria that is resistant to antibiotics known as beta-lactams. These antibiotics include methicillin, amoxicillin, and penicillin.
Careful attention to personal hygiene is key to avoiding MRSA infections. Wash your hands frequently, especially if visiting someone in a hospital or long-term care facility. Do not share personal items such as towels or razors with another person -- MRSA can be transmitted through contaminated items. Cover all wounds with a clean bandage, and avoid contact with other people’s soiled bandages. If you share sporting equipment, clean it first with antiseptic solution. |
|
The CDC’s Ounce of Prevention Campaign recommends individuals to keep their hands clean. “Wash Your Hands Often. Keeping your hands clean is one of the best ways to keep from getting sick and spreading illnesses. Cleaning your hands gets rid of germs you pick up from other people…from the surfaces you touch…and from the animals you come in contact with.” Read the other six steps to having a Preventing HIV Infection safer, healthier home at www.cdc.gov/ounceofprevention.
Preventing HIV Infection
BestHealth - the trusted source for hands-on health knowledge - brings you the expertise of Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, one of the nation's preeminent academic medical centers. At BestHealth at Hanes Mall you'll learn how to stay healthy and maximize wellness in the face of health challenges.
BestHealth’s extensive database of health information is accessible via this website. The following are its recommendations regarding prevention of HIV infection.
Alternative Names:
Human immunodeficiency virus infection
Prevention:
- Avoid intravenous (IV) drugs. If you use IV drugs, avoid sharing needles or syringes. Always use new needles. (Boiling or cleaning them with alcohol does not guarantee that they're sterile.)
- Avoid oral, vaginal, or anal contact with semen from HIV-infected people.
- Avoid unprotected anal intercourse, since it causes small tears in the rectal tissues, through which HIV in an infected partner's semen may enter directly into the other partner's blood.
- If you have sex with people who use IV drugs, always use protection.
- If you have sex with many people or with people who have multiple partners, always use protection.
- People with AIDS or who have had positive HIV antibody tests can pass the disease on to others. They should not donate blood, plasma, body organs, or sperm. They should not exchange genital fluids during sexual activity.
- Safer sex behaviors may reduce the risk of getting the infection. There is still a slight risk of getting the infection even if you practice "safe sex" with the use of condoms, due to the possibility of the condom breaking. Abstinence is the only sure way to prevent sexual transmission of the virus.
- Use protection when having sexual contact with people you know or suspect of being infected with HIV.
|