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Key To Staying Healthy May Be As Simple As Washing Hands

By Lynne Adkins

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- As a serious respiratory virus moves across the country, it's important to know what you need to do to keep you and your children healthy.

Enterovirus D68 is a serious respiratory illness that has sickened children in the Philadelphia area and across the country. To keep your family healthy, it will take more than hand sanitizer to clean your hands, according to Dr. Karen Ravin, Chief of Pediatric Infectious Disease at Nemours AI duPont Hospital in Wilmington, Delaware.

dr. ravin
Dr. Karen Karen Ravin (credit: Karen Bengston, Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children)

"They're a little bit heartier than other viruses and they can survive longer in the environment and for longer periods of time on different surfaces," Ravin says, "and the fact that they are little heartier is what makes them less likely inactivated by alcohol based hand sanitizers.

That means hand washing with soap and water. Ravin says hand sanitizers will protect against some viruses, including the flu.

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