People should continue to handwash irrespective of difficulties they may have with water supplies due to the flooding crisis to prevent the spread of the swine flu, a public health expert has warned.
HSE South Public Health Director, Dr Elizabeth Keane said yesterday it was important people continued to either handwash or use wipes to prevent the spread of the illness which has to date claimed 16 lives in the Republic and 13 lives in the North.
"Handwashing is going to be more difficult because of problems with the water supply but it's important that people continue to do so because of the flu pandemic- people should use bottled water or water from a tanker or wipes or a sanitiser," said Dr Keane.
Dr Keane was speaking in Cork where some 18,000 households are facing up to a week without water and she also urged people to be careful when they are boiling water, taking sensible precautions to avoid accidents.
People should if at all possible use a kettle to boil water for drinking and if they must use a pot or pan, they should keep the handle turned in while they should also be careful when boiling water if children are in the vicinity.
Dr Keane also urged people not to boil large quantities of water as, if not all used and left around, it may become contaminated while she also warned parents of young babies to be careful when using bottled water to make infant formula.
"All bottled waters have a sodium content but different brands have different sodium contents and if people are using bottled water to make infant formula, they must check the sodium content - the sodium needs to be less than 200mgs per 100ls," she said.
Proper sensible precautions such as boiling all water to be used in washing vegetables and preparing salads should prevent any health problems but anyone who starts feeling unwell during the anticipated water shortage should contact their GP, she added.
Dr Keane also urged people to conserve water and pointed out that people can use rainwater or recycled water from dishwashing to flush their toilets and that it isn't necessary to flush the toilet after every use, particularly after urination.