Hand Washing IS Best for Flu Prevention

Parents who are worried about illnesses such as the much-talked about swine flu, which has claimed 11 victims in the U.S., can make sure they take one very important precaution: Encourage kids to wash their hands.

Teaching children to wash their hands is the best way to prevent the spread of infectious illnesses such as the flu, says a new study from researchers at the Cochrane Collection, an organization that evaluates medical research.

In a review of 51 studies that looked at various ways to contain respiratory virus epidemics including influenza, researchers found that hand washing is the best way to prevent the spread of disease -- better than other measures such as travel restrictions, closing schools or using face masks.

According to researchers, kids are very sociable, spend a lot of time in close contact at school, daycare and during play. Hand washing is a low-cost, effective way to prevent the spread of illness, so if you haven’t done so, be sure to get your kids into the habit of hand washing at home. And make sure you talk to your child’s summer camp counselors and caregivers about keeping up the hand washing habit this summer when they’re out of school.