Keeping your hands clean,it may reduces your risk of contracting or spreading illness. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offers these guidelines on when to wash your hands:
- Before you put your hands into or near your mouth, including before you smoke, brush your teeth, or have something to eat or drink.
- Before and after being around a person who is ill.
- After you go to the bathroom or change a baby's diaper.
- After you touch areas that get a lot of contact, counting door knobs and handrails on stairs.
- After you blow your nose.
