In 1847, Dr Ignaz P. Semmelweiss, a Hungarian obstetrician, realized that the occurrence of infections and mortality in newborns could be considerably reduced by practicing proper hand hygiene. As this was before the confirmation the germ theory by Louis Pasteur, Semmelweis could not give any acceptable scientific explanation for his discovery. He was committed to an insane asylum by his colleagues when they became offended by his attempt to promote better hand-washing habits among them. He died at the age of 47, just a couple of weeks after he was committed.
His realization earned widespread acceptance within a few years of his death. Washing your hands can significantly decrease the spread of so many diseases. Poor hand hygiene practices are the primary cause of many illnesses, starting with the common cold to more grave infections such as meningitis, hepatitis A, and many varieties of infectious diarrhea. According to research, though 95% of folks declare they practice proper hand hygiene, only 67% of people actually do so. Even though the significance of hand washing is lectured to school children the world over, many adults still have only a vague grasp on the facts. Here are some shocking facts that teach us how vital it is to practice proper hand hygiene.
The Horrifying Truth
Most people assume that the transference of diseases by “touch” means getting infected by being in physical contact with an infected person. But the fact is “touch” primarily refers to touching your own mouth, eyes, and nose, or the touching of food you are about to consume with your own contaminated unwashed hands. This “touch” transfers approximately 80% of communicable diseases.
The number one cause of child mortality is pneumonia. Respiratory illnesses like the common cold, the flu, and pneumonia can be communicated by touching your face with contaminated hands. The second-most widespread cause of childhood death is diarrhea. Touching food with unwashed hands can lead to diarrhea and other food-borne infections like E. Coli, Salmonella, and Staph. Washing your hands can decrease diarrhea rates by at least 40%.
The two most crucial times for washing your hands are after using the bathroom and before handling food. But the horrifying truth is that only 20% of people actually wash their hands before touching food. Any area you touch in a bathroom, from the door handle and the flush knob to the faucet, is covered with germs. When a toilet is flushed with the lid open, bacteria such as E. Coli and Staph float in the fine mist which finally settles, covering every inch of the bathroom. The percentage of women washing their contaminated hands after a toilet jaunt is just 75%, while it is a shocking 50% for men.
The Most Common Hand Hygiene Mistakes
Most people take less than 10 seconds to wash their hands. They wash mostly the palms of their hands and usually miss the remaining areas. Fingertips hold more bacteria than the palms, and there is a germ stronghold under your nails.
Though ideally you should wash your hands for at least 30 seconds, the minimum recommended time is 15 seconds.That extra 15 seconds can remove 10 times more bacteria. Using an alcohol-based hand sanitizer for just 30 seconds can kill the same amount of bacteria as two whole minutes of washing your hands with soap and water.
Left-handed people wash their right hand more meticulously than their left hand and vice versa, though the truth is that the dominant hand usually has a higher bacteria count.
A Thousand Times More Dangerous
Damp hands are more hazardous than dry ones when it comes to spreading and picking up bacteria. How many people actually bother to dry their hands after washing? A mere 20%!
Disposable paper towels are much more sanitary than re-usable cloth towels which conceal millions of bacteria. Another shocking hand-drying fact is that jet-air hand dryers increase the average number of bacteria on the finger pads by 42%, while warm-air hand dryers increase the total number of bacteria on the palms by 254%! Washing and drying hands with paper towels decreases the total number of bacteria on the palms by 77% and on the finger pads by 42%.
If you make regular hand washing and drying a strict rule for everyone in your family, you can definitely minimize the germs being passed around. Hand hygiene initiatives can greatly decrease lost productivity due to absences and sick leave.
The WHO Steps to Clean and Safe Hands
The World Health Organization recommends the following effective hand-washing technique and outlines the following steps. This is much more effective than “Apply soap all over your hands and wash it off.”
Featured photo credit: Flickr via flickr.com
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Source: Life Hack
