December
Health Calendar
By Carrie Barnes and Carlos J. Queirós
World AIDS Day
Since 1988, the first day of December has been dedicated to increasing the awareness of HIV/AIDS and the threat it poses to the world. Getting tested, staying informed, and being active in your community are important steps toward halting its spread.
National Hand Washing Awareness Week
Get on your soapbox!
Pay tribute to Ignaz Semmelweis this month. He is widely recognized as the first person to propose routine hand washing as a way to prevent the spread of disease. That was over a hundred years ago. And he never got the thanks he deserved.
Dr. Semmelweis taught medicine at a hospital in Vienna, where he observed that women being attended by medical students were dying at an alarming rate. When he discovered that the students were coming directly from the dissecting lab to the maternity ward, he speculated that they might be transferring diseases from the cadavers to their patients. Semmelweis decided to have the students wash their hands in a chlorine solution before taking care of the women and the death rate dropped to less than 2 percent. Even after this great success, Semmelweis was not celebrated and it was a long time before hand washing was adopted as a routine practice.
It’s hard to believe that there was ever resistance to hand washing. Today it’s part of our culture, taught in schools, at work, and in health care settings. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it is the single most important way of preventing the spread of infection. Still, recent studies have found that men and women are not washing their hands, even after using the restroom! Wash your hands more often. It only takes a few minutes and it really does make a difference.
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Additional Resources: |
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If you need to be reminded why it’s important to wash your hands, visit the MedlinePlus's Germs and Hygiene page. |
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For instructions on proper hand washing technique, visit the University of Utah’s University Healthcare Page. The university also has information on the infectious diseases you can avoid spreading. |
National Drunk and Drugged Driving Prevention Month
You have a choice.
In 2004, driving under the influence of alcohol caused nearly 17,000 fatal accidents, accounting for 39 percent of all traffic deaths, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. An alcohol-related motor vehicle crash kills someone in the United States every 31 minutes and injures someone every two minutes. During the holiday season, the roads become even more dangerous. Parties and festivities make the period between Christmas and New Year's Day the most deadly season when it comes to alcohol-related crashes. All of these deaths and injuries can be prevented. This holiday season and throughout the year, make a commitment to avoid driving while under the influence of alcohol or drugs and stop others from doing the same. Get involved in the campaign to increase community awareness about the tragic consequences of driving under the influence.
Drugged driving has only recently been recognized as posing the same kind of danger as driving under the influence of alcohol. While there are no statistics yet as to the number of accidents or fatalities caused by drug-impaired driving, many believe the numbers are just as high. In the past few years, many states have adopted laws against drug-impaired driving. The National Safety Council has launched a campaign to educate the public on the dangers of driving while impaired by many common prescription and over-the-counter drugs, such as antihistamines and anti-anxiety medications. If you take prescription or other drugs, check with your doctor or pharmacist and learn about the laws in your state.
Updated: October 2006
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