All the rage seems to be the Purell® Rite slowly being introduced to parish after parish. Typically it is performed before communion and then after communion. No, you won’t find it in the liturgical books.
I think it started with Swine Flu, although I could be mistaken on that. The irony is that swine flu was spread in the air and not by hand to hand contact. Even given the severity of Swine Flu, there were only 3400 deaths in the US from it when it broke out in 2009, and many of those deaths were from people suffering other maladies. Comparatively, traffic deaths average about 40,000 per year. While infection rates are high for the flu, the worst consequences tend to be things like diarrhea, fatigue, and a fever. A healthy person should not be grossly concerned with getting an infection by shaking hands or drinking from a common cup or even kissing.
Before chicken pox was immunized. one popular wife’s tale was that you could induce chicken pox in the unaffected child by having them share 7-Up or some other drink with infected child. To many parents displeasure, the other child stubbornly refused to become infected, delaying that rite of passage until later in life. Of course before the advent of indoor plumbing, it was common to drink from the same cup or even a ladle. For whatever reason, people seem to have in their minds that they are one hand washing away from debilitating illness or death. Germs and bacteria are normal and for the most part perfectly fine. Indulging people’s irrational fears is not good. The person who worries she is going to get lung cancer by being exposed to cigarette smoke while she exits a building needs to be told her fears aren’t rational.
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