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You need to make sure that you don't infect anyone else, so
follow these precautions:
Hand washing
Thorough hand washing with soap in warm running water and drying
is the most important factor in preventing the spread of
gastrointestinal infections. Carers must wash hand after:
- handling patients
- their bedding
- their clothing, or
- being in the sick room
- before preparing or serving food
Patients and attendants must always wash their hands:
- after using the toilet
- before meals
Towels must not be shared.
Institutions, particularly schools, are encouraged to use liquid
soap and disposable towels or air hand dryers.
If more than one toilet is available, designate separate
facilities for those who are ill, and those who are well.
Disposal of excretions and soiled materials
At home, patients should normally use a flush toilet.
If urinals or bedpans have to be used attendants should, if
possible, wear disposable plastic gloves and wash their hands
thoroughly after attending the patient. Soiled clothing and bed
linen should be washed in a domestic machine with a 'hot cycle'. If
the amount of soiling makes this impractical, as much faecal
material as possible should be flushed away in running water, into
the toilet bowl if possible. Further soaking in disinfectant before
washing to reduce contamination is not generally considered
necessary and may bleach coloured fabrics.
Disinfection
Toilet seats, flush handles, wash-hand basin taps, and toilet
door handles should be cleaned daily, or more often, depending on
how often they are used. Toilet seats should be wiped after use
with household detergent solution and a bleach-based sanitising
solution diluted according to the manufacturer's instructions.
Alternatively, alcohol based wipes may be used on seats and other
hard surfaces. These precautions are especially important in
schools, nursery schools, and residential institutions. Bedpans and
urinals should be emptied into the toilet bowl, and then washed
with disinfectant and rinsed.
Education
Everyone should be instructed in personal hygiene, and in the
hygienic preparation and serving of food. This teaching should be
reinforced in those suffering from or who are contacts of patients
with intestinal infections.
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