If you head to the fair, the Mahoning County Board of Health has an important reminder for you: Stop and wash your hands. Health officials placed extra signs near all the animal barns and food vendors. They also have more anti-bacterial dispensers located throughout the fairgrounds.

Can changing a single word on a sign motivate doctors and nurses to wash their hands?

Kids will be heading back to school soon and that means colds, flu and other easily shared infections are bound to pick up. But illness and school absenteeism can be significantly reduced through a program of mandatory hand hygiene, according to a recently published study in the American Journal of Infection Control.

I am a conversation enthusiast. I often search for opportunities to meet new people and hear their stories. The two people I sat next to on the plane home from the International Association of Food Protection annual meeting were no exception. Dr. Bernadette Franco of University of Sao Paulo and Dr.