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TOP JOBS

By LAUREN GROVER
Staff Writer

Germs aren’t getting the best of us due to the simple tasks of hand hygiene and immunizations, a visiting infection control expert said Wednesday in Tyler.

In hospitals, using an antiseptic rub between soap-and-water washing is cutting down infection transmission, a ritual employers and parents should take up, said Sue Sebazco, infection control director at Arlington Memorial Hospital.

“It’s the most effective way to prevent infection,” she said. “We’re learning new ways to have better hygiene.”

Ms. Sebazco was one of several speakers Wednesday at the 2008 Public Health Preparedness Symposium in Tyler attended by some 225 local hospital, school and clinic health professionals. The lectures continue through this afternoon.

Methicillin-resistant staphylococcus transmission is also down as hospitals have become savvy to the virus’ ways, she said, especially the atypical community-acquired strains.

“We’re alerted to it when close contact occurs: prisons, competitive sports, military, overcrowding with frequent skin-to-skin contact,” she said.

Athletic trainers are doubling as infection control experts as they guide players, especially boys, in better hygiene, particularly in bathing and not sharing gear or towels.

“Boys taking a towel to school for football and bringing it home when the season ends, that’s got to change,” Ms. Sebazco said.

Vaccinations — especially for meningitis — have driven case numbers of deadly infections lower than ever in some cases, and people must continue to value these preventative efforts, she said.

“Especially the flu vaccine, people just don’t think they need it,” Ms. Sebazco said. “But even though they may be able to live through a bout of it, someone else they spread it to might not.”

Influenza kills 250,000 to 500,000 people worldwide each year — recently the vaccine has been approved for infants and pregnant moms in an effort to change that, she said.

Parents who question using vaccines should consider valid sources, such as the Center for Disease Control, which strongly recommends all available vaccines for children, said Jan Edwards, a state health department nurse.

Vaccines have prevented thousands of deaths and dropped the frequency of many deadly diseases to nearly nothing, the CDC says. But it’s hard to remember when many young people have never seen a case of measles, mumps, polio, diphtheria, tetanus or whooping cough, Ms. Sebazco said.

“Please don’t be afraid of immunizations, they’re our friends,” Ms. Edwards said.