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.
Disgusting
urban legend ?
I can’t think of one good reason to ever visit India
If I'm ever in West Bengal and Tripura, remind me not to eat or touch anything. I hope these stats are a little better in the U.S. I'm really hoping.
snopes has nothing on it, at least as I phrased the question. Fight the Smears! ....errr.
Does anyone think that this is why the hand picked
tomatoes cause disease and death here in the USA ?
“It’s condescending to the voters,” said Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico, a Democrat.
A fervent nonuser of hand sanitizer, Mr. Richardson holds the Guinness Book of World Records mark for shaking the most hands over an eight-hour period (13,392, at the New Mexico State Fair in 2002).
Twinkle twinkle little star...
thanks!
Excrement occurs.
Wait a minute, I’m supposed to wash my hands after?
Great timing - it’s only dinnertime here in some parts of the US! :)
From a vaguely similar story, last year:
Men were the biggest offenders, with just 66 percent of men seen washing their hands in public bathrooms
and
Men's hygiene was worst at Atlanta's Turner Field, where just 57 percent of men were observed washing their hands after using the toilet at the baseball venue.
Bull scat.
Don't bet on it. I am amazed at the high number who do not wash their hands in men's restrooms. I have even witnessed doctors(off duty) who failed to wash their hands. Of course, even those of us who do wash have to touch the same door handles that the unwashed use. Sort of negates the whole thing.
Indeed, but this is not confined to the Third World. There was a famous study performed in the men's room at a major convention of infectious-disease specialists. More than 40% of those who had used the facilities neglected to wash their hands afterwards.
The dirtiest thing in the world is the handle on the mens' room door. It is covered with an invisible veneer of fecal matter. I always use a piece of paper towel to open the door after I wash my hands.
-ccm
I do use a paper towel if there is a door knob in the bathroom. I also try to remember to do that if I’m eating at a buffet restaurant—use a napkin to pick up the serving utensils that 500 other people have touched.
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