A “Namaste” may be your safest bet
Some of you probably read a recent report which suggested that a handshake can apparently be more infectious than a kiss!
If you think this is some kind of a new year’s joke, read this feature from Oct ‘04 in which Dr. Philip Tierno (Director of clinical microbiology and immunology at New York University Medical Center) has been quoted as saying:
“If you eat or drink something without washing your hands, or if you touch your own nose, mouth, or eyes after shaking someone’s hand, you can introduce whatever germ was on their hand, and now your hand, into the portals of your body…”
The report goes on to say: “Indeed, hand-to-hand contact can be such a potent way of passing germs that the CDC issued a special advisory which reads, in part, “The most important thing that you can do to keep from getting sick is to wash your hands“
Wow!
So seems like a “Namaste” is not only more respectful, it may also be a “safer” alternative to the traditional handshake…
While avoiding a handshake completely is not practical for most of us today, it probably makes sense to revert to the traditional greeting whenever you can.
Here is one of my favourite articles on Namaste: Never Shake Hands With God and here is some information on basic hand hygiene (do read, it has some startling information).
