Fifteen seconds of handwashing can help stop the spread of deadly diseases such as swine flu.

That’s the message from health chiefs covering Dover and Deal who are braced for another wave of the illness this winter.

Andy Scott-Clark, deputy director of public health for NHS Eastern and Coastal Kent, said: “It takes at least 15 seconds to clean hands properly.

“People should always clean their hands after using the toilet, before and after eating or handling food and after handling animals.

“They should cover all cuts and abrasion with waterproof dressings.”

The primary care trust has already warned of another peak in swine flu this winter and the Clean Your Hands campaign is also to protect against bugs such as MRSA, C.diff and E.coli .

The most common way infections are spread is on people’s hands especially those that cause diarrhoea, sickness, stomach bugs, cold and flu

The primary care trust says that the number of people contacting their GPs with flu-like symptoms in eastern and coastal Kent has risen to 30.3 per 100,000 in the week beginning Monday, October 12.

This compares with 21.1 per 100,000 the previous week beginning October 5. In England overall the rate has risen from 31.3 to 35.6 in that time.

The rise in cases comes in the week that swine flu vaccinations have started for NHS frontline staff and deliveries of the vaccine to GP surgeries for at risk groups have started.

These include people with underlying health conditions such as heart disease and diabetes plus pregnant women.

The trust wants children to be taught to wash their hands regularly in the hope that the habit will become lifelong.

They especially want people caring for sick friends or relatives to do it as those with long- term illnesses are more susceptible to infections.

Visitors to hospitals should also wash their hands when they arrive and leave.

Other ways to prevent infections spreading include covering the nose and mouth with a disposable tissue when sneezing, coughing and wiping and blowing your nose.

You should throw used tissues in a waste bin and wash your hands afterwards.