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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsFist Bumps Relay 90% Less Germs Than Handshakes
The study in the American Journal of Infection Control found that fist bumps, where two people briefly press the top of their closed fists together, transferred about 90 percent less bacteria than handshakes.
"People rarely think about the health implications of shaking hands," Dave Whitworth, a biologist at Aberystwyth University in the United Kingdom who co-authored the study, said in a statement.
"If the general public could be encouraged to fist bump, there is genuine potential to reduce the spread of infectious diseases," he said.
Link: http://mobile.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSKBN0FX1Q820140729?irpc=932
Standard procedure for me at work. I go in a lot of prisons & mental health facilities. Inmates & "clients" are always trying to shake hands. I usually carry tools or paperwork in my hands so I can't. But when I get caught off guard, I always throw up the fist.
Meeting people in casual circumstances is a little different. I tend to just shake hands to avoid awkwardness. I do hate cold, clammy hands though. Gross.
IronLionZion
(45,450 posts)PoliticAverse
(26,366 posts)Inkfreak
(1,695 posts)However, a lot of these guys are in these places cause they tend not to pick up on social cues, lol. They will not be denied, at times.
Populist_Prole
(5,364 posts)Ever the reserved type, about the only way I know to make a more enthusiastic greeting is adding the half-hearted "salute" with two fingers with a deadpan "how y 'doin?"
SidDithers
(44,228 posts)Wouldn't it be nice, though, if Reuters knew when to properly use "less" and when to properly use "fewer"?
Sid
Inkfreak
(1,695 posts)Nye Bevan
(25,406 posts)Makes me want to loose it, sometimes.
SidDithers
(44,228 posts)Sid
TexasProgresive
(12,157 posts)I got germs, you got germs, we all got germs!
And I still have a working immune system-how about you?
Inkfreak
(1,695 posts)As I said, I just don't wanna touch the hands of a lot of these people in the mental health facilities. Some do some fairly gross things at times.
laundry_queen
(8,646 posts)and if we do go extinct, or experience a culling, chances are it will be due to a new contagious illness. For most of mankind's history, we rarely came into contact with outsiders. Our immune systems aren't up to the task, imo. Just having a couple of small kids in school will make you realize how easy it is to get sick, constantly, even if you have a 'great' immune system.
xfundy
(5,105 posts)like the Obamas use?
/snark
laundry_queen
(8,646 posts)in class a few years ago, I had a marketing prof who insisted on teaching us how to handshake 'properly'. We had to shake hands with everyone in the class (50 people or so). Afterwards, 90% of the class RAN to the washrooms to scrub our hands clean, LOL. No one enjoyed shaking hands with that many people. I've never been a fan of handshaking for the whole 'germ' reason. I can always imagine that the person I'm shaking hands with was just picking their nose, or that they didn't wash their hands after they wiped their ass. You never know.