Public health is centered around the prevention of disease and promotion of health among a population rather than an individual. However, it seems that the public is not aware of the role of public health in their lives. This has prompted the American Public Health Association to start and education campaign using the red and white stickers that say “This is Public Health.”
Our group placed our sticker on the Publix, at 53rd street and Fowler, shopping cart sanitizer station located in the entrance to the store. Grocery stores have just recently added a place for shoppers to sanitize their carts. Shopping carts are often used but many people a day, who rarely wash their hands before grabbing their cart and starting to shop. Many people a day, including children who are notorious for spreading disease, use these shopping carts to hold their food and household items while they shop. As American’s we have learned how important it is to wash our hands, but our shopping carts may be just as important. And it seems we do not remember to wash our hands before or after grabbing onto shopping carts.
Germs from hands, leaky meat packages, and many other sources collect on shopping carts that are never washed. When you place your foods in the cart they have the opportunity to hitch a ride to your house. You then grab that box of cereal and the germs jump to your hands. One of those cereal pieces runs away from the bowl, you grab it with your germy hands and eat it. Now the germ runs rampant inside and gets you sick! If you had killed those germs in your shopping cart you may have avoided getting sick.
The public needs to be aware the public health has encouraged the grocery stores to place these stations in their stores in order to keep people from getting sick. The public now needs to be educated on the good that these wipes can bring about. Hopefully these wipes will lessen the number of American’s getting sick.
As many times as I have been in that Publix, i never realized those sanitary wipes. Especially with most people being germophobes, it's nice to see that it is offered. I can't tell you how many times i've gotten sick probably from using a grocery cart that was used by someone that was sick. Our group also went to the Publix on 53rd and did the "Employee's must wash hands before returning to work." We just missed each other. Nice job :)
ReplyDeleteWow, that's a really great topic. I never considered how dirty the carts could be. I was just reading the easiest way to contract the flu is through touching your face with contaminated hands. Apparently, the mucus membranes in the eyes are highly susceptible to the virus. Thus, shopping carts could be highly contagious points of transmission. It would be embarrassing to wipe down your shopping cart, holding up the people behind you while you looked like an OCD person but it's actually a really good idea.
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