Hand sanitizers: Recent news

[prescottbob]

Just an FYI.

 

http://www.stltoday.com/lifestyles/health-med-fit/health/article_e20ae33a-6b93-11e0-883d-0019bb30f31a.html

 

Be and remain to be well.

 

Bon Voyage & Good Health!

Bob:)

[SwissMyst]

Never understood why it is recommended to rub these drying products over anything other than the touching surfaces of the hands, primarily the tips of one's fingers.

 

We rarely put food in our mouths or touch other surfaces and make later hand mouth contact with the backs of our hands, or even the palms of our hands. Whatever. :confused:

[Zyzygy]

The link in the original post reports that the FDA is going after several hand sanitizer manufacturers for making excessive/fraudulent claims about their products' effectiveness.

 

During recent cruises I have been glad to see paper towel/Kleenex dispensers and trash cans near public restroom doors. This does a great deal to help curb Norovirus.

 

It doesn't help to tell people to use a Kleenex to open a bathroom door, and then not provide any or anyplace to throw it away.

 

Kudos to HAL for big improvement in this area.

[Krazy Kruizers]

thanks for the link

[Krazy Kruizers]

The link in the original post reports that the FDA is going after several hand sanitizer manufacturers for making excessive/fraudulent claims about their products' effectiveness.

 

During recent cruises I have been glad to see paper towel/Kleenex dispensers and trash cans near public restroom doors. This does a great deal to help curb Norovirus.

It doesn't help to tell people to use a Kleenex to open a bathroom door, and then not provide any or anyplace to throw it away.

Kudos to HAL for big improvement in this area.

 

that used to bug me when they told us to use a kleenex or paper towel when opening the door as you left the restrooms -- and then no where to get rid of it

i was pleased to see a trash can near the doors on our last cruises

[Zezzie]

Does HAL give hand sanitizer wipes to each and every person when they enter restaurants or buffets? When I was on Disney about a year ago they gave each person one to use before entering. This included each child. My youngest was not even 1 yet so I thought I could share my wipe - nope. They insisted I use one solely for that child. I have to say I thought it was a great practice and there was no instance of norovirus on our trip.

[cruisinggranmama]

that used to bug me when they told us to use a kleenex or paper towel when opening the door as you left the restrooms -- and then no where to get rid of it

 

i was pleased to see a trash can near the doors on our last cruises

 

 

I have developed quite a 3 point basket shot if there is no basket near the door. If I miss, I pick it up, rewash and redo the shot with a new towel. Wonder what would happen if I left it there then went to complain to the manager of the restaurant or whatever?

[Randyk47]

Does HAL give hand sanitizer wipes to each and every person when they enter restaurants or buffets? When I was on Disney about a year ago they gave each person one to use before entering. This included each child. My youngest was not even 1 yet so I thought I could share my wipe - nope. They insisted I use one solely for that child. I have to say I thought it was a great practice and there was no instance of norovirus on our trip.

 

They have liquid sanitizer dispenser throughout the ship and particularly in and around any food venue like the buffet or restaurants. I've never seen HAL hand out wipes.

[Zezzie]

They have liquid sanitizer dispenser throughout the ship and particularly in and around any food venue like the buffet or restaurants. I've never seen HAL hand out wipes.

 

So its basically the honor system if you use it or not? Disney had a crew member at the entrance door insisting everyone comply.

[Randyk47]

So its basically the honor system if you use it or not? Disney had a crew member at the entrance door insisting everyone comply.

 

On our recent cruise, just a few weeks ago, the only "monitor" was at the main dining room door but even then he wasn't insisting that everyone either use the liquid dispenser station or take a shot from the one he was holding in his hands. He was trying to get everybody to use one or the other but I saw people "sneak" by. I don't remember anybody monitoring at the buffet, at least not when we went there mostly for lunch.

[GeriatricNurse]

So its basically the honor system if you use it or not? Disney had a crew member at the entrance door insisting everyone comply.

 

Yes, it is the honour system! :) And not everyone complies! :(

[BumperII]

Trust me, if you have ever had a noro like virus, you won't want to have it again. There is a reason why we are 100 % compliant.:o

[jhannah]

If the FDA and CDC want to stage an advertising campaign to address a real issue, they should encourage folks to always wash their hands after toilet. I'm still amazed at how many men I see leave the restroom without washing their hands.

[sail7seas]

So its basically the honor system if you use it or not? Disney had a crew member at the entrance door insisting everyone comply.

 

 

There are sanitizer dispensers at the entrance to the Main Dining Room and if they see a guest pass by without using it, they have a hand held one being used by one of the dining crew. He will dispense it into your hands if you did not do it yourself.

 

There is a crew person at the bottom of the gangway in every port who reminds all guests to use the sanitizer as we return to the ship.

 

There is a steward at the dispenser at Lido Buffet and he, too, reminds guests to use the sanitizer as we pass by to enter Lido.

 

They are all politely insistent.

 

There are dispensers all over the ship and wipes at all the computer stations in Explorations Cafe. One does not need to go far to find sanitizer.

 

But handwashing is far superior.

Wash your hands, wash your hands, wash your hands.........

[Randyk47]

There are sanitizer dispensers at the entrance to the Main Dining Room and if they see a guest pass by without using it, they have a hand held one being used by one of the dining crew. He will dispense it into your hands if you did not do it yourself.

 

There is a crew person at the bottom of the gangway in every port who reminds all guests to use the sanitizer as we return to the ship.

 

There is a steward at the dispenser at Lido Buffet and he, too, reminds guests to use the sanitizer as we pass by to enter Lido.

 

They are all politely insistent.

 

There are dispensers all over the ship and wipes at all the computer stations in Explorations Cafe. One does not need to go far to find sanitizer.

 

But handwashing is far superior.

Wash your hands, wash your hands, wash your hands.........

 

While I'll agree that there are dispensers all over the ship, and we used them frequently, there wasn't quite the enforcement on the Maasdam as you might think or expect. Now since we work in the health care environment we didn't need to be reminded and used the dispensers when entering the Lido or when leaving/boarding the ship maybe we didn't need reminding by a crew member so it didn't happen to us but I didn't see a lot of that on our cruise. I actually was a bit surprised as they were much more observant on our previous cruise. The good news was, at least according to the Hotel Manager, that they'd had a very good Caribbean season in terms of no major Norovirus outbreaks and he felt HAL's procedures and the CDC guidelines were working well.

[sail7seas]

Wow, Randy. So surprised to read that. We saw lots of enforcement during our December Maasdam cruise and same for Eurodam in October, Noordam in March. Maybe because they were getting into a 'dry dock mindset' and knew the ship was going out of service, they got a little more relaxed about it.

 

We've been told the Code Orange precautions are making a big difference in lowering Noro outbreaks. I think most of us have believed guests are bringing aboard after they are exposed on airplanes and precruise hotels. Code Orange has cut down their spreading it by eliminating the self-service.

 

[heirloomz]

On our recent cruise to the Mexican Rivera on the Oosterdam, there were hand sanitizer machines everywhere. Every time we saw one, we used it. I also carry one. We did not get sick and I think it cannot hurt to use them. After we went to the Lido Buffet, we used the sanitizer before we ate. No big deal to help keep away germs and enjoy your vacation.:cool::cool::cool::cool:

[Boytjie]

Yes, it is the honour system! :) And not everyone complies! :(

 

And it doesn't really kill all virusses! :D

[lvz2cruz]

This is my thought on hand sanitizer:

I change a dirty diaper and then squirt hand sanitizer on my hands. I then prepare and hand you food. Do you feel my hands are clean enough to eat that food?

Those germs have not been rinsed off, they have just been rubbed in a little more with chemicals that kill some germs while making other bacteria immune to germ killers.

I much prefer good old handwashing and do it before I go eat and I avoid the sanitizers because they dry out my hands.

[Randyk47]

Wow, Randy. So surprised to read that. We saw lots of enforcement during our December Maasdam cruise and same for Eurodam in October, Noordam in March. Maybe because they were getting into a 'dry dock mindset' and knew the ship was going out of service, they got a little more relaxed about it.

 

We've been told the Code Orange precautions are making a big difference in lowering Noro outbreaks. I think most of us have believed guests are bringing aboard after they are exposed on airplanes and precruise hotels. Code Orange has cut down their spreading it by eliminating the self-service.

 

 

The Hotel Manager also felt that the Code Orange precautions had been a big part of the lowering of the Norovirus outbreaks. As for the relaxed attitude, not sure what caused that. Interestingly they didn't have or pulled the dock side attendants early at three or four of our stops. They left the dispensers but nobody was there to even suggest you use them before boarding. There were also dispensers at the top of the gangway, just before security, but I don't remember the attendant there or the security personnel pointing them out or saying anything about using them.

[SwissMyst]

Does HAL give hand sanitizer wipes to each and every person when they enter restaurants or buffets? When I was on Disney about a year ago they gave each person one to use before entering. This included each child. My youngest was not even 1 yet so I thought I could share my wipe - nope. They insisted I use one solely for that child. I have to say I thought it was a great practice and there was no instance of norovirus on our trip.

 

While this was a nice gesture offered by Disney, I would be concerned about creating that many disposable one-use items. Having the sanitizer dispenser delivery does eliminate at least the extra disposals of individual wipes.

 

However, those dispensers systems seem to have a mind of their own when choosing to squirt or not. :confused: One staff member showed us where a manual overide button is, but there you go "touching" things of dubious cleanliness.

 

Our last ship also had the tissue available at the restroom door - and it was a very tiny and thin but adequate amount for door handle use -- but that too adds to the ship disposal load. These are good ideas and so far we have never had personally a noro-virus problem on board any ship.

[SwissMyst]

........

But handwashing is far superior.

Wash your hands, wash your hands, wash your hands.........

 

And let's add ..... keep your hands away from your face, nose and eyes too. Bugs need to be carried into your system. They do not jump off counter tops or door handles or Lido trays. They have to be "invited" into your system usually by one's own careless hand contacts to their very own eyes, noses and mouths.

[Hlitner]

A couple of years ago we met a CDC physician on a RCI cruise. He was on the ship for a few days to lecture and train the crew on certain health-related procedures. We had a long discussion with him about the standard hand cleaners and he said they were near worthless when it came to Norovirus. He also was critical of public bathroom doors that required you to touch a lever or knob to get out of the bathroom (he said to use a papertowel or some other means to avoid touching the door). As to Noro, he told us to simply wash our hands with soap and water while "quietly" singing "Happy Birthday" twice. He said this would pretty much eliminate all the germs and viruses (including Noro) as long as we did not touch anything (especially that nasty door).

 

Hank

[SwissMyst]

Stair bannisters are my biggest clean-hands challenge. I kind of use the back of the palm of my hand and slide it down the rail when using the stairs rather than give it a full good grip with my whole hand. Not the safest approach but it at least keeps me in quick grab range if I trip up.

 

I do notice the staff cleaning off the railings a lot but still that is just one more place to pick up bugs and forget you just did. And then those same hands ending up somewhere nears nose, eyes or mouth later.

[Taxguy77]

I have developed quite a 3 point basket shot if there is no basket near the door. If I miss, I pick it up, rewash and redo the shot with a new towel. Wonder what would happen if I left it there then went to complain to the manager of the restaurant or whatever?

 

I'm getting pretty good, too, but if I miss I just keep on leaving. Talking to the manager might spoil my meal.