(Click on image to ENLARGE) “Frequent hand washing and/or hand cleansing is the first line of defense in the war against this antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Now we have the real power of the pen in our hands,” said Assemblyman Dov Hikind (D-Brooklyn). “We have to put that power in our children’s hands; these GelRite pens are self-contained dispensers with alcohol-based hand sanitizer. They’re compact and easy to use and will encourage students to clean their hands frequently. A few ounces of pen prevention are worth pounds of cure.”
[For additional photos taken by YW photographer Raphael Grynsztajn click HERE]
Hikind thanked DermaRite Inc. for their donation of 10,000 pens to schools. “I applaud Executive Vice President & General Counsel Naftali Minzer; President Norman Braunstein; and Mark Friedman, Executive Vice President of Operations for DermaRite for taking the initiative to protect our schoolchildren,” said Hikind.
Mr. Minzer contacted Assemblyman Hikind and offered these pens and wall dispensers to New York schools when he heard of Hikind’s campaign to combat transmission in schools. Hikind urged for a policy change to encourage schools to step up staph safety precautions by not allowing schoolchildren into the classroom with scrapes or cuts which are not bandaged.
Hikind’s public education campaign to fight staph in schools includes introducing “Clean Hands Save Lives” legislation, requiring the posting of this signage in school bathrooms, gyms, locker rooms, etc. “CDC guidelines state: Keep your hands clean by washing thoroughly with soap and water or using an alcohol-based hand sanitizer; Keep cuts and scrapes clean and covered with a bandage until healed; Avoid contact with other people’s wounds or bandages; Avoid sharing personal items such as towels or razors. It’s easy, but we have to re-educate parents and children to use hand sanitizer frequently. The GelRite pen is effective and convenient.”
We don’t want to scare parents, but we have to make parents and students aware: This bacteria is opportunistic – an open cut or sore and it can enter the bloodstream. Tell your children again and again: Wash, Cleanse, Cover. We can try to control the spread of MRSA, but it’s going to take a new way of thinking and a new way of behaving, and carrying a hand sanitizer pen with you is a great step forward.”
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16 Responses
Teach them young. Those will be the habits that will stick for life.
I remember seeing a Naftali Minzer in the Agudah’s Daf Yomi dinner journal. Is this the same person? If so, that’s a truly amazing individual. A person of Torah and Chessed! Mi k’amcha yisrael!
The Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, Georgia had determined a few years ago that such hand sanitizers actually worsen things. The pathogens have developed an immunity to them and subsequently have become superbugs. How about giving out free soap and funding to the mosdos so that they are able to supply their students with plenty of hot water so they are able to properly wash their hands?
p.r. ploy – but it could have dire consequences. the hand sanitizers can be toxic for children – if a baby licks that stuff, it can send the baby to the hospital with an alcohol overdose (see Burge & Sword, among other research articles). In fact, Mr. Yuk, the poison-control campaign, advises that there should be no hand sanitizer gels in the reach of children and use of it by children should be supervised by adults.
just a note of caution – don’t give your kids hand sanitizer!
Agree 100% with Flatbush Bubby – hand sanitizers (and other anti-bacterials) are very problematic. Hot water, soap, and good hygiene are much better preventative measures than a gimmicky sanitizer pen.
my kids each have a small bottle of purell in their briefcases to use in school.
eggsolo – Years ago they used to mix 1/2 alcohol and 1/2 water when sponging down a child with a high fever. (alcohol dries faster than water thereby lowering body temperature faster). They later found out that it was not a good idea because the alcohol was absorbed into the body through the skin. Purell, (which is mostly alcohol) might keep your hands clean but I agree with grose. Purell should be supervised. Will this prevent spread of msra? Maybe, but I’m not sure we are not going to end up with other problems when kids lick the alcohol.
I just received guidelines given to school administrators to reduce MRSA — the guidelines called for:
soap and water washing
purell for sports players if and when soap and water is not there (sports players only)
covering of all wounds with bandaids
and disinfecting (not hands, folks) but surface areas within the school.
My hand sanitizer says (in tiny letters, of course): “Keep out of reach of children. If swallowed, get medical help or contact a Poison Control Center right away.”
While these hand sanitizers may not be a substitute for proper washing with soap and water, they certainly fill a void when soap and water are not readily available.
Children, especially, need to be reminded constantly to wash properly with soap and water. When soap and water are not available, hand sanitizers are definitely a better alternative than carrying around and sharing your day’s worth of germs.
Will these be given out in Yeshivas as well?
I am pretty sure that is what it is meant for.
What a great idea! Now the kids will be able to say l’chaim in class. Why didn’t they server alcohol to kids in our days?
I think everyone is being a little skeptical.
Anything can be dangerous soap that they wash
their hands with maybe they will eat that too OH No!.
Don’t give it to anyone under 4th grade and
make a speech how it is poisonous.
The Probability of a kid trying out the taste is
very low and so is the possibility though it is there.
#14 Sorry, disagree. We don’t eat soap. Kids put their hands in their mouths. Thant’s a fact. Try googling “poison by hand sanitizer”. You might change your mind.
Ok. Fine Malkyt but 4th grade or 5th and older still
do that I don’t think so. I know that 5 year olds do so therefore it is dangerous but not 5th or 4th graders especially if you tell them before you give
it to them what can happen in a nice way of course.