Mitchel Musso, who plays Oliver in the Disney Channel show, is the face of the campaign "Clean Hands are Cool Hands," which aims to promote hygiene among elementary children to stop the spread of the superbug MRSA, along with colds and the flu.

The campaign was created by Steris, which produces disinfectants, and Hospital Corp. of America, the parent corporation of six MountainStar hospitals in Utah. Those hospitals are in turn spreading the clean message to Utah schools, including Oakdale Elementary in Sandy and Woodrow Wilson Elementary in South Salt Lake.

"What we're trying to do is really educate them about how they pass on germs, to catch these kids when they're impressionable and eager to learn," said Audrey Glasby, spokeswoman for MountainStar. Its hospitals include St. Mark's in Salt Lake County, as well as hospitals in Brigham City, Ogden, Bountiful, Orem and Payson.

In school presentations, hospital staff illustrate the proper way to hand wash - using warm water and soap for 15 seconds (that's enough time to sing "Happy Birthday" twice) and scrubbing between fingers, under nails and the backs of the hands. Using a black light and special lotion that mimics germs, they show how bacteria remains on improperly washed hands.

Children, said Thomas Kurrus, medical director at St. Mark's and an infectious disease doctor, are perfect vectors for bacteria. Most are taught to wash their hands after using the bathroom, but they also need to know to do it after they sneeze, cough and touch objects and before they eat.

He said hand washing is more important than diet and exercise at preventing illness.

MRSA, or Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, is resistant to common antibiotics. A common cause of minor skin infections, in serious cases it can also infect the bloodstream, lungs or urinary tract or cause pneumonia.

While MRSA is most common in hospitals, it is now spreading in the community among people who haven't been hospitalized, including children.

Kurrus said Utah doctors are seeing more MRSA-caused skin infections, which look like pimples or boils. MRSA can be treated with some antibiotics, but eventually the bug will become resistant to those.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says prevention is best.

Good hygiene - proper hand washing, covering cuts and scrapes, avoiding contact with other people's wounds and bandages and avoiding sharing towels or razors - can stop skin infections, according to the CDC.

hmay@sltrib.com