What Doctors Say
"The biggest danger to babies is other people's hands."
- Ken Haller, M.D., Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Saint Louis University School of Medicine
"Since people who don't know they're sick can also spread germs, it's completely appropriate—and not rude—to make everyone wash their hands before touching [your] baby."
- David Geller, M.D., Children's Hospital Boston
"When babies are born, their immune system is not mature, making them susceptible to any germ they come in contact with."
- Bryan Sibley, M.D., Beacon Children’s Specialty Hospital, TX
"It's not a problem to have close friends and family hold your newborn, as long as they wash their hands first and avoid coughing or sneezing near him."
- Lane France, M.D., Pediatric Health Care Alliance, FL
"Washing hands is the simplest, most effective thing you can do to reduce the spread of colds, flu, diarrhea, and sometimes even serious or life-threatening diseases."
- American Society for MicroBiology
"Eighty percent of infectious illnesses are spread by touch—by coming into contact with contaminated people or objects."
- Philip Tierno Jr., Ph.D., director of clinical microbiology and diagnostic immunology at New York University Medical Center and Mount Sinai Medical Center
