(1888PressRelease)
November 19, 2008 - Menifee, CA– As cold and flu season gets into full swing, families brace for the onslaught of illness sweeping through their house as their little ones bring home whatever is being shared at schools and playgrounds. Childcare facilities and schools begin sanitizing and rigorous hand washing to try and stop the spread of germs, usually to no avail. Work days are lost, kids are out of school, the doctors office gets very busy and cold medicines fly of the shelves all costing families money and time they don't have in our present economy.
Sanitizing and hand washing are great practices, but illness prevention really should start at stopping the giving of germs - What is the good of washing a doorknob if 2 seconds later your child coughs into their hand and touches the doorknob again? Or washing a toy if 5 minutes later they grab the toy and sneeze on it again?
Sanitizing and washing hands only clean up germs after they are release onto things. Germs need to be stopped as they are released. If kids germs aren’t given to everything, everyone else can’t get them.
When a child needs to cough or sneeze, what are their options?
• The air? A sneeze can propel germs onto everything in its path at 200 miles an hour.
• Their hands? A child can touch 300 surfaces in 1/2 hour infecting everyone. How many surfaces do you think they touch before they wash their hands?
• A tissue? A tissue is great for wiping or blowing noses but not fast enough to catch the sudden cough or sneeze.
The American Academy of Pediatrics and the medical community at large recommends teaching kids to cough and sneeze into their elbow. It is the new cough and sneeze etiquette. Elbow?? You read it right. Think about it. Unlike the tissue, the elbow is always there. Unlike the hand, the elbow doesn't touch very much. Try touching a doorknob, a light switch, and a handrail with your elbow. Not easy! Do a Google search on “children cough elbow”. There are 139,000 hits - mostly from the medical community advocating this technique.
The concept is simple and the results are amazing. No germs on their hands to spread. No germs propelled via the air onto surfaces. If kids germs aren’t given to everything, everyone else can’t get them. Isn't it better to have the germs in 1 place rather than all over the place?
Why doesn't every parent or teacher teach children this healthy habit? It isn't easy. Telling a child to cough and sneeze into their elbow is like telling them to eat their vegetables - not fun. The medical community that advocates it doesn't really tell you how to do it and does not provided any teaching tools to help parents and teachers accomplish it.
Margaret Back, a Riverside California mom and concerned parent wanted to teach her children to cough and sneeze in their elbow, but was having a difficult time helping them remember. She wanted to stop getting sick every time her child developed a cold or the flu. That led to the development of the Germy WormyTM Disposable Sleeve and teaching program.
“I was sick for over six months off and on when my daughter first went to school. Every time she brought home a cold or flu I would get sick again. I knew that there had to be a way to stop spreading the germs in the house and so I researched what the medical community recommends and tried teaching our family the new cough and sneeze etiquette but I wasn’t having the success I needed,” shares Margaret Back, inventor and founder of Germy Wormy. “I wanted to develop a product that would be fun, easy to use, and capture the germs that were being spread throughout the house and to the rest of the family. That is why I developed the Germy Wormy Disposable Sleeve.” Germy Wormy’s favorite food is germs and he is sooo hungry. Germy Wormy asks all kids “May I please have your germs?” Kids have so much fun "feeding" the Germy Wormy they don’t even realize they are learning a healthy habit.
Back continues, “It is so easy to use that children love putting them on and showing their friends and family the “right” way to cough and sneeze. At the end of the day we can just throw the sleeve away and no germs have gotten on the door handles, refrigerator, or toys. This fall my daughter did come home from her new school with a cold but she used her Germy Wormy and her elbow and my husband, the baby and I did not get sick – a huge cost and time saving for our family and a boon to our health and well being.”
You can learn more about the Germy Wormy Disposable sleeve and teaching program at www.germywormy.com
In the meantime, the next time you see a child cough or sneeze into their hands watch where the germ filled hand go next - it is an eye opening experience. On that will get you thinking that the new cough and sneeze etiquette of "doing it in your elbow" might be on to something.
Germy Wormy is available online at http://www.germywormy.com or at selected retailers. Additional information can be found by contacting Jacqueline Wolven, Germy Wormy media relations at Jacqueline ( @ ) moxieworks dot net
Germy Wormy is produced by Margaret Back, Mompreneur and inventor on a mission to teach children and families to stop giving their germs and stay healthy. A family owned and operated company started in 2006. She launched her Germy Wormy Disposable Sleeve product on Oct 4, 2008 in Riverside County, California. More information can be found at http://www.germywormy.com
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