Hand hygiene

Hand hygiene is an effective measure for preventing infectious diseases

May 5 is World Hand Hygiene Day. Frequent hand washing remains one of the most effective ways to prevent infection with many diseases.

Hand hygiene is very important:

1. 80% of infectious diseases are transmitted through touch. Touch is understood not only as human interaction but also as touching one's own mouth, eyes, nose, and food. Touching food with dirty hands can lead to infections such as salmonella, E. coli, staphylococcal infection, and diarrhea. Proper hand washing can reduce the risk of diarrhea by 40%, which is significant considering that diarrhea remains the second leading cause of child mortality worldwide. The first is pneumonia, which can also be a result of poor hand hygiene. Touching the face with dirty hands can also lead to infections such as ARVI, influenza, and coronavirus infection. Thorough hand washing can reduce the likelihood of contracting respiratory infections by almost 20%.

2. It is especially important to wash your hands before preparing food and after using the toilet. Only 20% of people wash their hands before preparing food. Less than 75% of women and less than 50% of men wash their hands after using the toilet. And they shouldn't! Every time we flush the toilet with the lid open, a fine mist containing bacteria such as E. coli and staphylococcus spreads up to 6 square meters. 90% of the surfaces around toilets in public restrooms are covered with such bacteria.

3. The recommended time for hand washing is at least 30 seconds. For every 15 seconds spent washing hands, 10 times more bacteria are removed.

People wash their hands for less than 10 seconds on average. Using a hand sanitizer for 30 seconds will remove the same amount of bacteria as 2 full minutes of washing with regular soap.

4. Most bacteria on hands are located on the fingertips and under the nails.

Moreover, the number of microbes doubles after each toilet use. Most people only wash their palms and skip everything else.

There are more bacteria on the dominant hand. However, right-handed people tend to wash their left hand more thoroughly, and vice versa.

5. Wet hands spread bacteria 1000 times more often than dry hands.

However, according to statistics, only 20% of people dry their hands after washing.

Reusable cloth towels contain millions of bacteria. The most hygienic hand drying method is disposable paper towels.

Clean hands are the key to health!

Stay healthy!

State Institution "Rassonsky RCGE", 2023