SAN ANTONIO — Ever since the pandemic began, we've been struggling to greet one another - trying to figure out which is the safest. A new study released gives us a little more information on the safest ways to say hello.
Researchers at the Northeast Ohio VA Healthcare System and the Cleveland VA Medical Center wondered what kind of hand-to-hand contact was safest by using a benign virus to get their results.
"Anytime we have direct contact with others, especially hand to hand contact, we increase our risk of spreading germs to one another," Rosa Lozano, an AVP of Infection Prevention at Methodist Healthcare said.
That's what the researchers found, too. Starting with the handshake which had a 91 percent transfer of germs. What about the fist bump? That had a 59% transfer rate.
"A fist bump is a lower risk than actually shaking hands, but this part of the hand (she pointed to her knuckles) is a lot of times ignored in handwashing," Lozano added.
Michelle Vigil, the Public Relations Manager for the Metro Health District, said locally we need to abstain from our usual greetings.
"I know in San Antonio, we love to hug and kiss our loved ones and our friends, but right now just to make sure everybody is safe we try to do it with the least amount of contact possible," Vigil said.
Finally the cruise tap. It's where you take two knuckles and touch them together. Researchers found it to transfer viruses 70% of the time. Their conclusion?
"The fist bump and cruise tap greetings could potentially reduce transmission of viruses in comparison to the handshake, but transfer occurred frequently, even with these greeting methods. To eliminate hand-to-hand transmission of respiratory and enteric viruses, alternative greeting methods that do not involve physical contact are needed."
So what should we do? Give some space.
"That also shows that you care about the other person health also," Vigil said. "If you don't want to put the spotlight on yourself, make sure that you were doing it for them."
To feel even more secure, bring sanitizer with you just in case you touch - and plan to wash your hands after.