How do you tactfully tell a doctor, a boss, etc. that you don't want to shake hands about 30 minutes after they sneezed on it, and just wiped with a tissue?
I have heard that Purell and like products do not kill influenza etc. so offering them some, does not protect you.
Even if they are not sick, do you want to know that was the last thing they came into contact with?
How do you handle these things so that everybody saves face?
I thought about saying, "I don't want to shake your hand, bc I may be coming down with something, but I don't want to lie." thanks.

hand sanitizers DO work. Rub your hands well, then allow to air dry. Washing your hands is the gold standard, but using warm water, soap, friction. As a nurse I use hand sanitizer dozens of times a day, and recommend it for all my patients in the home also.

I would just simply say "I am being careful about hand contact during this flu season."

hey, that is a very good idea. Thank you!
I'm still curious though. The hand stuff will kill flu germs?
I use it religiously, but keep hearing that we are over using and it's not that affective.
I keep it in my purse at all times, and wipe down grocery cart, etc.

I agree with SaraSewing...I do not shake hands hardly ever anymore...I just casually mention that with all of the virus's going around, that I don't think it is a good idea. I have not had anyone say anything or even give me an odd look... I also clean the handles of the grocery carts and use MY pen to punch in my pin numbers on key pads... and I use my sleeve to open doors.

You are lucky you only have to avoid hand shaking - I have to avoid KISSING! :shock: Dreadful, unhygienic French habit! I'm afraid I fib and do the 'think I'm coming down with something' thing. Or I just hold back and let them think I'm a rude English woman with no manners! :mrgreen: Although I know the childrens' teachers have put kissing on hold while the H1N1 epidemic is on - usually, they kiss each child on both cheeks every morning. :D

Here, EVERYONE kisses EVERYONE when they meet them. Hard to NOT do it. I usually just hold my breath. lol
But, I've been taking alot of vitamins lately....well, since I finally got rid of the little bug I was fighting. Been taking one of those Airbornes daily too. All of us have.
Hand sanitizer is a must while out and about. I keep a bottle in the van. Courtney carries 2 little bottles in her purse. I always wipe down shopping carts when I get them. Lately, I have seen sanitizing wipes at the entrance to stores for the shopping carts. Don't know how many people use them, but I do!!

gee, k, that is a LOT of kissing! even on the cheeks, things are sometimes airborne! I don't blame you for whatever you have to do! :shock:
geeza whizza...hope all that kissing doesn't, 'spread', over here, lol! :roll:

What is AIRBORNE, please?
I am so glad to hear about all that you do. I use to feel a little embarrassed but did it anyway. Now I just feel like, I'll be smart, and you be silly if that is what you want!
Hubby is feeling shunned as he is a mite sick at the moment, but I would expect him to stay away from me! He just made a doctors appointment for this afternoon.
I have to go to town, and feeling like putting a bubble suit on, lol! I will just have a bottle in each pocket and keep using pp towels and napkins for doors and such. yes, I hate those button thingies. I hate to use my pen, but it's better than my fingers. I am an unconscious rubber, scratcher, feeler. Trying to break all those habits. With chronic itching it ain't easy. :?

LOL, my kids have teased me for years of having a germ phobia, but I learned to be extremely cautious, by working in a hospital! This has been a good thread for me. It is building up my self protection mode. I really appreciate all the feedback! :D at least we can still share ideas, with no worry...well, you know, LOL! :lol:

Airborne is a tablet that is full of mainly vitamin C and other good stuff. You put it in a glass of water and it fizzles like Alka Seltzer, but tastes much better! Hubby and daughter swear by it!!

A good thing to remember during the flu season is that cold and flu are spread by droplets. They get on your mucus membranes, like nose and mouth. It takes them a bit to get into your system, so blow your nose a couple of times a day, and gargle. Reduces the risk that they will take up residence. That is a huge reason for washing hands, so you don't transmit them from your hands to your own mucus membranes. DON'T touch your face!

thanks Terri! I been popping vitamins and if we don't have that product, think we have something like it. ugh! have an intolerance to ascorbic acid, but I can deal with the pain and the itching better than the flu!

sarasewing:
A good thing to remember during the flu season is that cold and flu are spread by droplets. They get on your mucus membranes, like nose and mouth. It takes them a bit to get into your system, so blow your nose a couple of times a day, and gargle. Reduces the risk that they will take up residence. That is a huge reason for washing hands, so you don't transmit them from your hands to your own mucus membranes. DON'T touch your face!

thanks, sarasewing. I have been scratchin my chin and nose with the inner side of my gown. My hubby thought last night that I was 'masking' myself against him. I told him I am trying to break the putting my hands on my face habit. Geesh, I wouldn't care what he did to protect himself from me, if I was the sick one, as long as he didn't lock me outside, lol!

You can get Airborne at Walmart.

I have used the Airborne in the jpast, and need to get some more, don't know if it works, but will try anything right now. so much going around.

#1 I would have a heart attack if everyone wanted to kiss and/or hug me. I AM NOT a toucher. The very idea of people I barely know hugging or kissing me makes me cringe.

#2 I pretty sure American teachers would end up getting sued if they kissed everyone. We must just be more standoffish than the rest of the world.

:lol: I don't think so Lisa - it'd be the same in the UK. If I meet a group of friends here who are some English and some French, I kiss the French and just go 'alright?' to the English! Different strokes! Kissing the English seems a bit false somehow! :shock: :lol:

Kissing once or twice on each cheek is a typical French thing. How many times you kiss who and when is very complex - still haven't got the hang of it after 5 years! :shock:

We all need to be careful during cold and flu season. I also wipe down my shopping cart, wash my hands many times a day, and use sanitizer when I cannot wash. Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth as much as possible.

And the doctor's office is the worst place of all---all those sick people just make you feel like you are crawling with germs. I don't go to the doctor for anything "routine" this time of year.

They now teach kids in school to cough into their bent inner elbow instead of their hands. It really cuts back on the "touching and spreading" of germs. I even saw a poster about it in the waiting room at the doctor's office. My grandkids have me trained now!!

Our church has done away with a communal cup for communion and has stopped shaking hands for the sign of peace, too, Loretta.

Here in Florida, we wish the teachers would STOP at kissing!

My younger son has H1N1 and, so far at least, I think all this drama about it is hype. Perhaps we just caught it early or he got a light case but so far the worst thing is the coughing. I've had more debilitating head colds. Just my two cents worth.
We are also teaching kids to cough/sneeze in their elbows. They remember to do that but they still put their fingers in their mouths or noses. That's what I'm working on in my classroom mostly now.

I think the suggestion to simply say, "I'm being very careful of germs during flu season" would be all you need to say.

Do like Monk: awkwardly pull your sleeve over your hand and give a sideways nudge shake. Then start flapping your arms and yell in the most pressing tone "WIPES! WIPES! I NEED WIPES!"

My DD had H1N1 and we just used common sense around her. Wash hands often and don't share eating utensils and cover your mouth when you cough. I work in a hospital and wash my hands often and use hand sanitizer when entering and exiting a patients room. So far I haven't caught anything.

LoL, moonpi! It does seem like there is a lot going on here! :shock:

LMBO here Mad! I can hear Lucy from Charlie Brown, running around in circles: "Eww, ugh! dog germs! blech! blech! dog germs!" :lol:

well, hubby got irritated with me, Saturday morning, when he came up behind me and was going to hug me, and i jumped out of the way!
Guess what?
He went to the doctor today: both ears and sinuses are infected.
He got a breathing/inhaler thingy with medicine to put in it. Something for cough, steroids and an antibiotic!
Assistant said he was one sick puppy! I knew that! I'm using a mask if I sit in the same room now.
I have enough stuff going on, just dumb to sit there and catch more in my own house! :roll:
I'll make him some nice chicken soup tomorrow...and then run :wink:

It is hard to not hug and shake hands when you are in that habit, but we are doing a lot of waving at each other in church and not shaking hands. We will resume shaking when this is over. I, too, and trying to learn to keep my hands away from my face! It is hard to learn new things. Sneezing into my elbow is getting easier! :?

well, I tell ya, I may be the party pooper, but it annoys me that ppl will go to church sick...
or anywhere they don't have to. :roll:
Nothing like sitting in the fourth of six rows, and barking behind you...spraying forward...
barking to your right, barking to your left...
makes you...
cover your right hand up, hold your head way down,
then to shield from germs, you bend way down,
you do the hokey pokey and you want to run out and shout...
EVERYBODY THAT'S BARKING, HERE'S THE DOOR, NOW GET OUT! :evil:

We have used airborne before but I really just try to stock my kids up with fruits and veggies ( have more luck with the fruits) and they wash their hands a LOT. My mom is also a nurse and we always have purell. In the car, in my purse, in their backpacks. If they dont have access at a certain moment to soap and water we all use that.... sickness is really really over the top though in our area at the moment and we 4 of us 6 are sick. So no matter what you can only take so many precautions. Just keep your immune system healthy imho. :)

My kids do that all the time lol. Definitely time to limit their charlie brown intake lol :) heheh

The CDC has advised increasing your dosage of vitamin D to help ward off the flu. Also simple chlorine bleach and water can kill the flu germs. It amazes me that billions have been spent on wazoo disenfectants and it still comes down that bleach is still the best. And a heck of a lot cheaper.

Isn't bleach a carciogenic?

The bleach is used to wash down counters and such. The recommended ratio is 1% bleach to 10 % water. You can mix it in a spray bottle and use it that way. But it needs to be redone about every 10 days to keep it effectiveness.

I just got back from a couple of days in Las Vegas. I can't believe that I didn't see any hand sanitizer ANYWERE - and can you imagine a worst place to spread germs than a casino!!! Be sure to carry your own.

yikes! elbow to elbow, and all that dirty money!
My niece used to work in a bank and they used the purell and like products to both sanitize their hands and to remove ink from the new money.
Some cashiers have taken to wearing gloves, smart idea.

My daughter is at a credit union and they are really careful to provide both sanitizers and easy access to washing hands. It's pretty cool that most of the grocery stores, walmart, and a couple of others provide wipes to clean the basket first. Kudos to them!!

I just went to the Doctor's office and woudln't read the magazines- no matter how long i had to wait.

I don't either. I carry my own, and I sign things with my own pen.
Also, when I want to look at magazines on a rack or greeting cards...I have been doing this for years...I never pick up the one in front.
I also don't use the handicap stall in the bathroom anymore, and I am entitled.
It looks to me like the one most frequented.
Carefully tear off the end of the paper on the roll, and discard. The last person had not washed their hands yet. :roll:

Another endorsement for Airborne - I had to travel by plane between chemo cycles last year. I was more than a TAD anxious, because that meant my immune system was very LOW - practically non-existant. My oncologist told me to travel just before my next chemo, because my immune system would have built up a bit, and to take Airborne just before I got on the plane! I didn't catch anything from the plane ride.

That's an excellent tip, Joanne. I have a lot of immune system disorders, and had thought about all that recycled air on planes!
I am gonna have to check out this Airborne stuff. Seems so many really like it! :D