Ok, a tiny bit of hyperbole BUT… I’ve been doing the “Fist Bump” for close to two years and I’ve experienced a DRAMATIC reduction in colds (a few sniffles, nothing like the 2 or 3 majors a year I used to experience). A fist bump transfers only 5% to 25% of the bacteria of a handshake and a high five transfers about 50%. Or at least so says a study published 7/28/14 online in the American Journal of Infection Control authored by David Whitworth of Aberystwyth University in Wales. The main cause for the lower transfer is the lower surface area in contact and the briefer time of contact. Interesting, while our culture associates positive characteristics with a “strong” handshake (firmer pressure, longer grip, duration), “strong” handshakes actually transmit twice the amount of bacteria as a normal handshake!
Yes, handshakes are a traditional greeting intended to convey warmth but… if you REALLY cared about them (And yourself! And your family! And your co-workers!) you’d do the Fist Bump!
Here are 3 links to medical publications (including Harvard and the Journal of the American Medical Association) extolling the benefits of fist bumping:
http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/fist-bump-better-handshake-cleanliness-201407297305
http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1873637
http://www.texmed.org/Template.aspx?id=34574
Closing Quotes
“This (fist bump) has all of the qualities of an ideal medical intervention: It’s free, it’s safe, and it can be done easily by everyone.” – Dr. Marchetti
“In order to change we must be sick and tired of being sick and tired.” – Unknown
“The end result is the equivalent of hundreds or more passengers indirectly touching the contaminated hands of hundreds or more fellow passengers, avoiding the mass handshakes with the captain is not only for the protection and well-being of the captain, but for the passenger as well.” – John Bradberry
As always, I share what I most want/need to learn. – Nathan S. Collier