Germs Prefer Handshakes

I first saw this reported in 2011 in a Johns Hopkins School of Nursing report. Their study showed that up to 80% of all germ transmittal is through shaking hands.

http://www.jhsph.edu/news/news-releases/2011/bishai-handshake.html

Basically, I get sick very rarely, except after business trips. Two or three days after I get home, I often get sick.

"Why?" I've wondered. "I don't remember meeting anyone that was sick."

For years I blamed it on the air in airplanes.

It wasn't the airplane, it was all the handshakes that infected me.

When I go on business trips I meet a lot of people, and I shake a lot of hands. Even if they appear healthy, who else have they shaken hands with today?

But what can I do about it? Handshakes are traditional in America, especially in business. The history of the handshake:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handshake

Now National Geographic magazine has come to my rescue. In the December '13 issue they covered the growing trend of fist bumping vs. shaking hands:

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/12/131219-bacteria-infection-mrsa-fist-bump-handshake-hospital/

That led me to discover that there's an organization devoted to eliminating handshakes. I'm thinking about getting their lapel pin:

http://stophandshaking.com/

 Photo credit: National Geographic Magazine