Swine flu battle hits Brazilian priests: ‘no holding hands, nor shaking hands’ – God doesn’t provide immunisation!

Priests reinforce the ’10 commandments for hand hygiene’!: Last week two Brazilian priests made various recommendations on hand hygiene guidelines for religious meetings. Changing religious habits appears to another tool for containing the swine flu in Latin America’s largest country. The Brazilian Roman Catolic priest Roberto Francisco Daniel (a.k.a. ‘Padre Beto’) told his congregation: “…not to hold hands while saying the Lord’s Prayer and to refrain from shaking hands and kissing in his morning mass to avoid getting swine flu. At least if you don’t have skin touching, you eliminate contact with secretions of somebody infected.” Recently ‘Padre Beto’ faced a dilemma when called to a hospital to bless a Catholic with the swine flu. But he had to decline the request, following a recommendation from the hospital crew. “Even religious matters need to have a limit” Padre Beto said. “I asked them to tell her we were praying for her.” SUGGESTION FOR FURTHER READING: • Swine flu prevention is a matter of ‘hand hygiene’! • Hand Hygiene: warm air dryers increase bacteria on hands! • Hand gel sales rocket in the UK due to swine flu fears! • Barack Obama’s recommendation for swine flu prevention: the fist bump! • More swine flu prevention: the 10 commandments for hand hygiene! • The swine flu etiquette: use good hand hygiene, no handshaking, no mask, to prevent a pandemic!