Alberta Health and Wellness:
Reduce the Spread

If you have symptoms of a respiratory illness, you should:

• Stay home from school or work and limit unnecessary contact with others.
• Call HEALTHLink Alberta at 1-866-408-5465 for more information regarding respiratory illness.
• If your symptoms worsen (eg. Shortness of breath, dehydration, worsening fever, cough or weakness), contact your health-care provider or visit your nearest health-care centre.

Whether you have flu symptoms or not, you should:

• Cover your cough by coughing into your elbow or sleeve or use a tissue to cover your nose and mouth when coughing or sneezing. Discard the tissue.
• Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after coughing or sneezing. Hand sanitizers are also effective. Hand Washing Tips
• Reduce the spread of germs by limiting touching your eyes, nose or mouth and by washing your hands frequently.
• Maintain your health by taking care of yourself and those in your care including eating a healthy balanced diet, avoiding cigarette smoke and other harmful substances, being active and getting enough sleep.

Hand Sanitizer Use

Hand sanitizers are an excellent means of ensuring clean hands when access to soap and water for hand washing is not an option.

The hand sanitizer must be:

• Alcohol-based
• Contain at least 60%, by volume, of alcohol (e.g. ethanol, isopropanol or n-propanol) and may contain emollients and other active ingredients.

A benefit of alcohol-based hand rubs, if used correctly, is that the drying time of approximately 20 – 30 seconds ensures adequate contact to kill the majority of contaminating micro organisms.

The recommended procedure for applying alcohol-based hand rub is:

• Roll up long sleeves and push up wrist watch
• Wash hands with soap and available water if hands are visibly dirty
• Dry hands completely after washing as wet hand will dilute the alcohol
• Place enough alcohol-based hand rub into the cupped palm of one hand sufficient to wet both hands
• Completely rub the liquid into the palms, backs of hands, between fingers and under nails, and if a ring is worn, on and under the ring

Alcohol-based hand rubs come in liquid, gel and foam forms and there is no reported difference in the effectiveness of each form as long as they have adequate alcohol content.

CONTINUED: World Health Organization