WHILE PEOPLE HAVE BEEN LINING UP FOR HOURS TO GET A FLU SHOT, RECENT SURVEYS SHOWED MANY ARE A LOT MORE CASUAL WHEN IT COMES TO PROTECTING THEMSELVES FROM DISEASE.
THOSE SURVEYED DIDN'T PLAN TO WASH THEIR HANDS MORE FREQUENTLY...AND WERE'T REALLY AWARE OF WHERE GERMS LURK.

FOR YEARS, NO, DECADES, YOUR PARENTS, TEACHERS AND HEALTH DEPARTMENT OFFICIALS HAVE TRIED TO KEEP YOU FROM SPREADING GERMS. THEY'VE TRIED HUMOR...
(MAN SNEEZES – IS SNATCHED FROM CROWD)...
THEY'VE TRIED SCOLDING....KATHLEEN SEBELIUS TO NBC'S CHUCK TODD...
"What's all that about?"
SOME OF YOU STILL AREN'T GETTING THE MESSAGE.
OK, SOME FACTS. THESE ARE GERMS. THEY MAKE YOU SICK. THEY CAN LIVE UP TO 72 HOURS OUTSIDE THE HUMAN BODY.
AND WHERE ARE THE GERMIEST PLACES IN YOUR HOME OR OFFICE? WE ASKED SOME PEOPLE.
NO, IT'S NOT THE BATHROOM...
"Hey"
"Sorry"
AND IT'S NOT THAT TRASH BIN WHERE EVERYONE THROWS THEIR FOOD.
"Yikes"
THE TRUTH IS THAT THE GERIEST PLACE IN YOUR HOME OR OFFICE...MAY BE AT THE END OF YOUR ARMS. YOUR HANDS.

"Any area or any surface that is being touched repeated by multiple hands is going to have germs on it," said Dr. Kathryn Teng of the Cleveland Clinic.

FACT: IN 2002, A STUDY FOUND OFFICE SURFACES HARBOUR HUNDREDS OF TIMES MORE GERMS THAN THE AVERAGE TOILET SEAT.
SOME OF THOSE GERMS CAME FROM YOUR SICK CO–WORKERS.
SOME OF THEM...YOU BROUGHT IN.
THINK ABOUT IT. WHERE HAVE YOUR HANDS BEEN LATELY?
NOW THINK OF WHERE OTHER PEOPLE'S HANDS MIGHT HAVE BEEN.
PUBLIC GYM EQUIPMENT? DON'T ASK.
AND HOW MANY PEOPLE MIGHT HAVE BEEN HANDLING THAT SHOPPING CART BEFORE YOU?
KROGER'S PUT THIS DISINFECTANT DESPENSER AT ITS DOOR...WE WATCHED FOR TEN MINUTES....ONE PERSON USED THE SWABS.
THE RESTOF THENM—THINK OF IT A "GERM ROULETTE".
MELISSA WHEELER VISITS FIFTY GROCERY STORES A WEEK, DISTRIBUTING COUPONS.
SHE SAYS SHE ALWAYS USES THE DISINFECTANT.

THERE ARE EVEN DESIGNER DISINFECTANTS OUT THERE NOW. VICTORIA'S SECRET HAS ONE.
STILL...NOTHING BEATS GOOD OLD HAND WASHING TO GET RID OF GERMS...ON THE HANDS.
TROUBLE IS...MOST OF US AREN'T DOING THAT RIGHT EITHER.
THE EXPERTS SAY YOU NEED TO REALLY SCRUB FOR TWENTY SECONDS WITH SOAP AND HOT WATER, UP TO THE WRIST, UNDER THE WATCH AND THEN,..

"Just as important, you have to thoroughly dry your hands so you don't give the germs to a place to grow," said Donna Duberg of St. Louis University.

SO, TO REITERATE:
CLEAN YOUR WORKSPACE...
SANITIZE WHERE YOUR HANDS TOUCH...
WASH YOUR HANDS THOROUGHLY...
COVER YOUR COUGH....AND YOU MOTHER WAS RIGHT...
STAY OUT OF THE PUDDLES.