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Washing your hands for at least 20 seconds reduces the incidence of diarrhea by half. Meanwhile, most of us spend only 5 seconds on this activity. The way you dry your hands is also important.
If hygiene in all countries could be improved, more than one million people could be saved from death from gastrointestinal infections. This is a real challenge with only 60% of the world’s people having adequate sanitation. But not always the availability of water and soap are decisive factors in frequent hand washing. Proper hygiene habits and awareness of the dangers of hand-borne infections are much more important. Research conducted in highly developed countries has shown that even wealthy societies are at odds with hygiene.
Bacteria on the skin
Up to 5 million bacterial cells can live on every square centimeter of hand skin. Fortunately, most of them are physiological skin microflora. But there are also dangerous microorganisms that got there after touching the contaminated surface with your hand. On our hands are carried, among others rotaviruses and noroviruses – responsible for diarrhea, golden staphylococcus, which causes skin infections and food poisoning, sticks Salmonella, Escherichia coli causing, among others inflammation of the urinary tract and kidneys, tapeworm eggs and pinworms. A few years ago, the WHO published a report on the epidemic of gastrointestinal infections, which showed that 69% of them were due to the transmission of germs through contaminated hands. The SARS epidemic in Hong Kong provided evidence of the importance of hand hygiene in the spread of respiratory infections. Much more cases were recorded then in areas where hygiene rates were low.
Diseases of dirty hands
In 2007, the Centers for Disease Conrol and Prevention conducted a study in Pakistan to show the impact of changing hygienic behavior (washing hands, bathing children every day) in households on children’s health. Infections of the gastrointestinal tract, skin (impetigo contagious) and pneumonia were monitored. During the year, the inhabitants of 300 households were included in the educational program and the observance of good hygiene habits was supervised there. The second group consisted of inhabitants of 360 households who had not been educated and had not changed their behavior. They found that the incidence of pneumonia was 50% higher, more than 40% of diarrheal diseases, and 47% higher impetigo in children who lived in homes not covered by the educational program.
Hand washing
Every day, in every place, we are exposed to contact with pathogenic microorganisms that are in the air and on various surfaces. Research has shown that washing your hands with soap and water for 15 seconds reduces the number of bacteria by about 90%. Another 15 seconds will completely remove any germs that can cause disease. Most of us unfortunately wash our hands for 5 seconds. Water alone is not enough, you should always use soap to get the right result. We recommend the Green Laboratory antibacterial liquid soap with origanol, which has antifungal and antibacterial properties.
When we are away from home, e.g. on a walk, on a bus or elsewhere, we can use preparations in the form of a gel or a hand disinfectant. It is enough to rub it well in your hands to get rid of dangerous intruders.
Microbes stick to wet hands more easily than dry hands, so it is very important to dry your hands thoroughly after washing them. Researchers from the University of Bradford in the UK have shown that it is more effective to wipe your hands with a paper towel than to use a dryer. It takes about 20 seconds to dry your hands with a paper towel. The effective use of a dryer takes twice as long and therefore many people suffer from poor hand dryness. In addition, dryers often spray into the air the bacteria that have entered these devices along with the water spray produced when flushing the toilets.
After washing your hands thoroughly, it is also worth using the Sylveco regenerating cream, which not only moisturizes them, but also gives your hands a healthy look.
Clean hands
As part of the “Break the chain of infection” campaign, the Dettol brand and the Memorial Institute – Children’s Health Center examined which microbes live on the hands of Warsaw residents. Anyone could take part in the study voluntarily. Microorganisms belonging to the physiological microflora were mostly present on the hands of women and men. Staphylococcus aureus was sporadically detected in both groups, which, if transferred to food, may multiply within a few hours at room temperature and poison the food. The disease is manifested by severe vomiting. A staphylococcus aureus, resistant to penicillins and other antibiotics, was detected on the hands of 2 women, causing serious and difficult to treat infections, e.g. boils, wound infections, pneumonia, and osteitis.
Fecal flora, responsible for food poisoning, was also present in a small amount on the hands of the subjects. This may indicate that the person has not washed their hands after leaving the toilet or has come into contact with a surface contaminated with these germs.
The presence of yeast-like and mold fungi was also found. For people with a well-functioning immune system, they do not pose much of a threat. However, they can cause mucosal infections, pneumonia, systemic infections in immunocompromised people, and infections of the oral mucosa in newborns and infants.
Do Poles wash their hands?
The results of a survey on the hygiene habits of Poles conducted by the Dettol brand and the Memorial Institute – Children’s Health Center inspire optimism. As many as 90% of the respondents answered that they always wash their hands after using the toilet, 67% – before preparing a meal, and 60% – after returning home. Slightly fewer people declared that they wash their hands after contact with animals (in total 83% of the respondents answered that they do it always or often) and after contact with a sick person (in total 84% of the respondents answered “always” or “often”).
The results of this survey show that Poles do not differ from other countries in Europe and the USA in terms of hygiene.
Remember also to reach for a moisturizing cream after washing your hands thoroughly. We can try the Rosadia rose hand cream available on Medonet Market.
Hygiene in the USA
The results of a study by the American Society of Microbiologists showed that only 67% of people wash their hands after using the public restroom. The research was conducted in 5 largest American cities. When it was repeated the following year, it found that there was a significant improvement in hygiene behavior and that as many as 85% of Americans washed their hands after using the toilet. According to experts, such a large change in hygiene could be related to the AH1N1 flu epidemic and a widely conducted campaign promoting hand washing as a preventive measure.
English people dirtier than English women
UK surveys show that only 32% of men and 64% of women wash their hands after using the public toilet. According to research carried out at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, every fourth person commuting to work by public transport has fecal bacteria on their hands. This is all the more worrying as 25% of men and 17% of women do not wash their hands before preparing a meal. White collar workers, retirees and students are “dirtier” than those who work manual. Perhaps because manual work is associated with dirty hands visible to the naked eye, which prompts you to wash them more often.
Text: Halina Pilonis
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