Fewer colds？ Disease control experts： Two excellent ways to prevent diseases are the most effective.

　　On June 22, the Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention released some results of a questionnaire survey on new coronary pneumonia. More than half of the people felt that the number of diseases such as colds or flu had decreased since the outbreak of new coronary pneumonia. Experts from the Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention analyzed that changes in habits such as wearing masks when going out, washing hands more often, reducing gatherings and dinners, and strengthening ventilation in homes and offices have really affected the number of people getting sick; Among them, the most effective are two preventive measures: wearing a mask when going out and washing your hands frequently, among which the truth is "if you know".

　　Text/Guangzhou Daily All-Media Reporter He Xuehua Correspondent Guangdong CDC

　　Over 90% of the people have changed their habit of wearing masks when going out.

　　With the normalization of COVID-19 epidemic prevention and control in China, our daily work, life and study have gradually returned to the former order. However, the public still have many questions about how to use masks, whether frequent disinfection is needed in public places, and what to pay attention to when going out.

　　A week ago, the Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention issued a questionnaire survey for the public, and 18 questions were designed and made by the Center for Infectious Disease Prevention and Control to collect recent public concerns about COVID-19. On June 22nd, the center collated some survey results, and experts in the center thought it was "varied and interesting".

　　In response to the question "Since the outbreak of COVID-19, compared with the same period of last year, has there been any change in your illness such as common cold/flu this year?" When asked, more than half (56.51%) of the audience felt that the frequency of catching cold/flu and other diseases had decreased since the new crown pneumonia epidemic, 36.2% said "uncertain" and only 7.29% felt that it had increased.

　　Why is there such a situation of less illness? Provincial disease control experts believe that "everyone’s health habits have changed" is the mystery.

　　In the survey, answer "Do you think personal living habits have changed before and after the COVID-19 epidemic?" At that time, nearly 90% (87.76%) of the citizens surveyed thought that their personal living habits had changed after the COVID-19 epidemic, only 9.11% had not changed, and 3.13% were "uncertain".

　　So what habits have they changed?

　　When answering "What habits do you think have changed", 92.28% people checked the "Wear a mask outside" option; 84.57% people think that they "wash their hands more often"; 82.79% people checked the option of "reducing dinners and gatherings with many people"; 65.88% chose "strengthening indoor ventilation in home/office"; Another 7.12% said that their other habits have also changed.

　　Two ingenious ways to prevent diseases are the most effective.

　　More than 90% people choose to wear masks outside, and nearly 85% people wash their hands more often & hellip; … Why do these changes affect the number of cases? Provincial disease control experts pointed out that these two simple health habits can stop most diseases transmitted through respiratory tract, digestive tract and contact, which are not so much preventive measures to prevent COVID-19, but rather health habits that everyone should adhere to.

　　Step 1 wear a mask when going out

　　The closer you are and the more droplets you are exposed to, the higher the risk of infection.

　　Wearing a mask is mainly to prevent infectious diseases that can be spread by droplets.

　　Medical surgical masks can isolate most bacteria and some viruses, and can also prevent the wearer from spreading bacteria or viruses to the outside world.

　　Wearing a mask is mainly to prevent infectious diseases that can be spread by droplets, such as COVID-19, influenza, common cold, chickenpox, mumps and other diseases.

　　When people sneeze or cough, they will spit out a lot of droplets. The droplets with small particle diameter will float in the air for a period of time, while the larger particles will eventually settle on the surface of the object. At the same time, the risk of infection is closely related to the distance. The closer the distance is and the more droplets are exposed to, the higher the risk of infection is.

　　Imagine if a patient doesn’t cover his nose and mouth when sneezing or coughing, or doesn’t wear a mask, then the droplets with virus that he sprays/coughs will float out. If many people are in a closed space, then other healthy people are at risk of infection.

　　However, wearing a mask can play a very good role in preventing diseases.

　　The medical surgical mask belongs to the self-inhalation mask, which has two-way protection for exhalation and inhalation, and its bacterial filtration efficiency is more than 95% and aerosol filtration efficiency is more than 30%. In other words, the medical surgical mask can isolate most bacteria and some viruses, which can protect the wearer from infection and prevent the wearer from spreading bacteria or viruses to the outside world.

　　Therefore, people changed their living habits during this period, and put on masks when going out to crowded and closed places (such as taking subways, buses, shopping malls and supermarkets), which greatly reduced various diseases infected by droplet transmission.

　　In addition, in the early stage of the epidemic, everyone did not get together or gather together, which also greatly reduced the risk of illness.

　　Step 2 wash your hands frequently

　　Frequent hand washing can prevent a variety of respiratory and intestinal infectious diseases.

　　Wash your hands with soap or hand sanitizer, not just water.

　　Rub for more than 20 seconds, rinse with clear water, and dry your hands with a clean towel or toilet paper.

　　"Wash your hands frequently" is the simplest and most effective preventive measure, which can effectively prevent diseases that can be spread through contact, such as COVID-19, influenza, rotavirus infection, hand, foot and mouth disease and other respiratory and intestinal infectious diseases.

　　Provincial disease control experts suggest that soap or hand sanitizer should be used when washing hands, rather than just washing with water. Although soap or hand sanitizer can’t directly kill germs, most viruses and bacteria can be removed from hands by rubbing and rubbing with both hands and washing with running water.

　　Covid-19, for example, consists of three main parts: the core genetic material (single-stranded RNA), the nucleocapsid (N protein) and the envelope (phospholipid layer and glycoprotein). Among them, the envelope of the virus comes from the cell membrane of the host (such as human), which helps to "fool" the immune system, but the phospholipid layer of the envelope is afraid of sodium stearate, and sodium stearate exists in a large number of bubbles generated by detergents, which can destroy the structure of the phospholipid layer and make the virus lose its ability to infect people. However, in order for sodium stearate to have an effect on the virus, we must wash our hands carefully and for enough time.

　　Learn the seven-step washing method, carefully scrub for more than 20 seconds, then rinse with clean water, and dry your hands with clean towels or toilet paper, which is considered as a qualified hand washing. Parents should also educate their children to develop the habit of washing their hands frequently, which is a good preventive measure to prevent all kinds of infectious diseases.