Posted on 07/05/2008 2:04:42 PM PDT by TornadoAlley3
NEW DELHI: It's a simple act, yet most of us neglect it. We tend to take it lightly, sometimes dismissing it as unnecessary, little realising its importance. Yet, grandma’s advice about washing hands still holds true. Every time we scrub our hands clean, killer germs get washed away. Though various studies have established that washing hands with soap reduces the risk of normal diarrhoea by nearly half and life-threatening diarrhoea by more than half, very few people take this seriously.
In fact, a study conducted in West Bengal and Tripura last year found that only 49% washed their hands after using the toilet, and 38% before eating food. The percentage was even less for those who washed either before preparing (30%) or serving (26%) food. Only 53% did so after defecation.
"Lack of proper hand washing and general cleanliness can get serious. Diseases like diarrhoea, pneumonia and acute respiratory and skin infection are common when proper hygiene is not maintained," says Dr Sandip K Ray, professor, department of Community Medicine, Khaja Bandanawaj Institute of Medical Sciences, Gulbarga, Karnataka. He conducted the study on behalf of the Indian Public Health Association.
Children are the worst victims of lack of proper hygiene. A recent study in impoverished urban communities in South Africa found that five-year-olds and younger children experienced fewer gastrointestinal, respiratory and skin diseases when their families participated in intensive hygiene education. Use of effective hygiene products such as anti-bacterial soap, surface cleanser/disinfectant, and skin antiseptic further reduced incidences of diseases.
Most people, says experts, wash hands for the sake of washing. Proper washing involves six steps and 15-30 seconds spent soaping. "But what we have seen in our study is that people barely spend that long and just wash their palms," says Ray. The correct way to do it is to not just clean the palms, but also the back and all fingers.
Interestingly, president George W Bush is finicky about cleaning after shaking hands. He shocked Barack Obama when they met the first time. Immediately after shaking hands with him, he sprayed a hand sanitiser, leaving Obama mortified. But as he later clarified, he was just getting rid of some germs on his hands!
Later this year, Ray will undertake another study in Gulbarga to understand the impact of lack of hand washing and poor home hygiene. This time, the study will observe how people touch their refrigerators, raw vegetables are chopped, raw meat is cut, etc. ‘‘People don’t realise how important it is to maintain hygiene at home. Lack of it leads to many deaths, especially among young children,’’ says the doctor.
At least 1.8 million people die every year from diarrhoeal diseases, 90% of whom are children under five years. In fact, the death of these children can be easily avoided by almost 45% simply by hand washing and hygiene education, says a WHO report.
Hygiene intervention can work wonders, as Ray found out — it led to 98% using soap after defecation. The need of the hour, as most doctors emphasise, is to maintain good hygiene. Certainly not a matter to wash one’s hands off.
Memo to self: Cancel all future trips to India and ME.
Oh wait; I never planned on going to those *turd-world hellholes*, anyway. Nevermind.
Well, one day he did.... a macaroon from a street vendor.....(he hasn't had one since)...
..He had dysentery so bad they sent him away to a hospital to recuperate...
The doctor treated him with arsenic in the AM, and mega doses of vitamins in the afternoon to counter the Arsenic....(or so he tells me)
I believe you. I work at a place filled with medical professionals. The women I see in the restrooms are fastidious about washing their hands, even if they have just gone into the washroom stall to straighten some clothing out and the toilet is not used (you can tell by the sounds). Then the women all use a paper towel to open the restroom door. They put a garbage can next to the restroom door so that the paper towels could be dropped into it.
But often I am standing not far from the entrance to the men's room, where the coffee machines are located, and I hear the toilet flush, then the door immediately opens and some doctor or male nurse comes out. Maybe they think their germs are special and they don't have to wash?
It’s one of my pet peeves too among a few. People blowing their nose at the eating table is another thing that bothers me.
That’s another thing I’ve heard too—you CAN be too clean and it’s not a bad thing for kids to get some germs into them. It builds up their immune system. I’m not super, anal clean but I do make my kids wash their hands after they go to the bathroom or come in from playing. And I wash my hands many times during the day.
Your crank is what’s dirty, bubba.
This moving story makes me realize that 53 per cent of dumpers don’t wipe, and therefore don’t feel the need to wash.
Nobody ever thinks of the menu, which was handled by a thousand nonhand-washers. I order my food, wash my hands, and THEN touch the utensils and cup.
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