A timely question coming into cold and flu season, proper hand washing is one of the best ways to decrease your odds of becoming sick and/or spreading illnesses to other people. But people often don’t wash their hands long enough. Your hands should be washed with warm running water and soap, scrubbing the hands for at least 20 seconds and rinsing well. Leave the water running until after drying your hands, and then you should use the towel to turn the faucet off. Otherwise you recontaminate your hands. How long is 20 seconds? — about the time it takes to sing “Happy Birthday” through twice.