Right now. Did you just wash 'em? Well, wash 'em again.
Unfortunately reported cases of hepatitis A are popping up at restaurant, after restaurant, after restaurant in Tampa Bay, and it makes sense when you consider that since the beginning of 2018, Pinellas County has had 332 cases, followed by Pasco County with 277 cases, and Hillsborough County with 169 cases.
Though Tampa Bay is ground zero for hepatitis A at the moment, the whole state is also at risk. According to data from the Florida Department of Health, in 2018 the state had 548 reported cases of hepatitis A, which was almost double the 276 cases from 2017, and way more than the 122 cases in 2016.
So far this year, Florida has had 1,037 cases of hepatitis A, and just last week 85 new cases were reported.
Hepatitis A is curable and can be treated pretty quickly once symptoms are identified, but the most common way for the disease to spread is when someone who currently has it doesn’t scrub the poop off their hand after using the restroom. They then they use that pooped-on hand to prepare you a meal.
It’s important to point out that an obvious sign of poop on your hand should not be the only signal to lather up. Sure, maybe you executed a perfect hover squat, or a no-hands power piss. Congrats. But how do you know the last person to open the bathroom door didn’t have a poop hand?
Don’t be like Fox News numbskull Pete Hegseth, who stupidly announced back in February that “germs are not a real thing” because he can’t see them, and so therefore he hasn’t washed his hands in over a decade.
Fox News’ @PeteHegseth admits, unprompted, that he hasn’t washed his hands in 10 years.
“Germs are not a real thing,” Pete says. “I can’t see them, therefore they’re not real.” pic.twitter.com/9hsAb9YA9j
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 10, 2019
When you enter any bathroom, you need to assume that there’s an invisible layer of shit everywhere, because more than likely people like Hegseth probably touched something. After all, according to a 2014 study, bathrooms are completely disgusting hellholes, and can host all sorts of horrible germs, like E. coli, Shigella, Streptococcus, hepatitis A and E, and more.
That being said, here’s how to properly wash your hands, according to the Mayo Clinic:
Wet your hands with running water — either warm or cold.
Apply liquid, bar or powder soap to a cupped hand.
Lather well.
Rub your hands, palm to palm, vigorously for at least 20 seconds. Remember to scrub all surfaces, including the backs of your hands, wrists, between your fingers and under your fingernails.
Rinse well.
Dry your hands with a clean towel.
Use the towel to turn off the faucet.
Besides washing your hands, the best way to not spread or get hepatitis A is to get the vaccine, and Florida has been vaccinating people en masse. In April, nearly 34,000 vaccinations were administered in Florida, and just last week another 5,000 people got the shots. However, only vulnerable populations really should get the vaccine, for everyone else, just wash your damn hands.
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This article appears in May 2-9, 2019.