I live in an area with two international airports. I fully expect, at some point, to have an ebola carrier come to our area. And given the news, I also expect them to wander around and potentially leave sweat or sneeze on public items.
What kind of basic precautions can we start practicing now (aside from wearing gloves and an N95 mask which we probably wouldn't until/unless we hear of it actually being in the are) in order to minimize our risk if it does come here? What protocol would you recommend? (I already wash my hands regularly and try to avoid touching my face.)
For example - going grocery shopping.
Are the alcohol-based hand sanitizers actually worthwhile in helping minimize the risk of picking it up, say, on a shopping cart? Is wiping the shopping cart handle with one of those alcohol wipes likely to be useful? Is using hand-sanitizer on my hands after shopping, before getting in the car a good idea? Would the combination be helpful or a waste of time? I'm not a big fan of the alcohol-based sanitizers, strongly preferring plain soap and water regularly, but some situations that just isn't possible to do.
Does alcohol even work on ebola?
What about shoes? Would it be a good idea to start entering from the mudroom and switch to slippers there and leave the shoes outside the home? I heard someone say they were going to wipe their shoes with alcohol - would that be even useful?
Just curious what do you consider a reasonable protocol for the average layperson given that a "mildly symptomatic but non-febrile" carrier could be wandering around in public for a couple days before going for diagnosis?
What kind of basic precautions can we start practicing now (aside from wearing gloves and an N95 mask which we probably wouldn't until/unless we hear of it actually being in the are) in order to minimize our risk if it does come here? What protocol would you recommend? (I already wash my hands regularly and try to avoid touching my face.)
For example - going grocery shopping.
Are the alcohol-based hand sanitizers actually worthwhile in helping minimize the risk of picking it up, say, on a shopping cart? Is wiping the shopping cart handle with one of those alcohol wipes likely to be useful? Is using hand-sanitizer on my hands after shopping, before getting in the car a good idea? Would the combination be helpful or a waste of time? I'm not a big fan of the alcohol-based sanitizers, strongly preferring plain soap and water regularly, but some situations that just isn't possible to do.
Does alcohol even work on ebola?
What about shoes? Would it be a good idea to start entering from the mudroom and switch to slippers there and leave the shoes outside the home? I heard someone say they were going to wipe their shoes with alcohol - would that be even useful?
Just curious what do you consider a reasonable protocol for the average layperson given that a "mildly symptomatic but non-febrile" carrier could be wandering around in public for a couple days before going for diagnosis?
Comment