There's No Such Thing as a Sterile Environment

One way we can protect our kids from "supergerms" and antibiotic-resistant bacteria is easy for everyone but difficult to enforce. When in the hospital or at the clinic, we have to insist that all doctors, nurses, orderlies and visitors wash their hands before touching our children. And we have to have seen them wash, not assumed that it has happened in another room.

How can you politely remind someone who is supposed to be really up on infection control to do something so basic as wash his/her hands before touching your child and before touching even the bed rails? You could put up a sign, something funny yet serious like: "Beware of the mother bear in this room! She bites (hard!) if you don't wash your hands before coming near her cub!" You'll still have to mention to every single nurse, every orderly, every doctor, intern, resident and social worker that you do mean it and that they must wash their hands in front of you , because signs are really ignored a lot. But a sign can make you seem concerned, yet self-deprecatingly cheerful, and maybe even when you're not in the room the sign will remind everyone to wash.

Washing hands with regular soap is a very simple and effective way to prevent transmission of resistant bacteria from one person to another, especially in hospitals and clinics.