I'm not a germaphobe. I don't get too alarmed when I hear about the latest pandemic headed our way.

And I've tried to use a force-shield of apathy about the illness to keep the H1N1 virus from attacking anyone I care about - or anyone who even sits near me.

But news that Washtenaw County actually has a school closed due to the suspected swine flu virus - for a week no less - now has me questioning one of my most basic business tools: The handshake.

Is it time to stop extending my hand to both friends and strangers in greeting?

People who don't find themselves in frequent networking situations may not need to worry about it. And people who work in restaurants or other retail settings have their own sets of issues to keep themselves healthy when faced with random customers.

But in my business world, I ended up shaking a fair number of hands.

And for the last few days, I'm trying not to visibly hunt for a bottle of hand sanitizer right afterwards.

The U.S. Center for Disease Control offers some guidelines for large public gatherings, including making hand-washing facilities available and reminding people that it's important. But it doesn't suggest a ban on handshakes, unless there's a severe local outbreak.

So far around Ann Arbor, not a lot of business people are halting the handshake, at least according to the people I spoke with Wednesday afternoon.

"I haven’t noticed anyone doing anything different," said Deb Power of Power Marketing. "... even people who have kids."

Sharon McRill, owner of the Betty Brigade, said she went to a networking event and saw "hugs and handshakes. Nothing different."

She's also not doing much differently at her concierge business - despite the fact that more sick people seem to be seeking her services.

One was a man in Texas who wanted her to deliver groceries to his wife, sick in Ann Arbor with what sounded like the swine flu.

"We had to say no," McRill said. "... We declined to go into her home."

John Hansen, interim president of the Ann Arbor Area Chamber of Commerce, said he's not seeing any uptick in people who express concern about handshakes at the group's many networking events.

But he does know a group of people who meet informally at Metzger's German restaurant near Zeeb Road and I-94 - and decided months ago they needed to avoid exchanging germs via the handshake.

Their alternative: "We bump elbows," Hansen said.

Changing group social behavior isn't always that easy, said Dr. Fred Kron, a family physician who graduated from the University of Michigan and practices in Wisconsin.

"It's hard to know what would change people’s behavior," he said. "Probably some sort of personal experience, some sort of event, that gives them a flash of insight."

Kron, reached while attending a business event in Virginia with Power, said he's recently been in plenty of handshaking settings. And he's still extending his own hand.

"But I'm disinfecting afterwards," he said. "I have too much work to do to get sick."

His tips: Carry hand gel.

And if you really don't want to shake a hand, you can always express your hesitance with some humor, he said.

"You can break the tension of not following convention with a little levity."

Paula Gardner is Business Director of AnnArbor.com. Contact her at (734) 623-2586, by email or via Twitter.
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