Eww! Only 5 Percent Wash Hands Correctly

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Eww! Only 5 Percent Wash Hands Correctly

Source: Journal of Environmental Health (via Michigan State University)

Remember Mom’s advice about washing your hands thoroughly after using the restroom?

Apparently not.

A new study by Michigan State University researchers found that only 5 percent of people who used the bathroom washed their hands long enough to kill the germs that can cause infections.

What’s more, 33 percent didn’t use soap and 10 percent didn’t wash their hands at all. Men were particularly bad at washing their hands correctly.

The study, based on observations of 3,749 people in public restrooms, appears in the Journal of Environmental Health.

“These findings were surprising to us because past research suggested that proper hand washing is occurring at a much higher rate,” said Carl Borchgrevink, associate professor of hospitality business and lead investigator on the study.

Hand washing is the single most effective thing one can…

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Two out of Three Medical Students Do Not Know When to Wash Their Hands

From an article in ScienceDaily (Dec. 1, 2011) —

Only 21 percent of surveyed medical students could identify five true and two false indications of when and when not to wash their hands in the clinical setting, according to a study published in the December issue of theAmerican Journal of Infection Control, the official publication of APIC — the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology.

Three researchers from the Institute for Medical Microbiology and Hospital Epidemiology at Hannover Medical School in Hannover, Germany collected surveys from 85 medical students in their third year of study during a lecture class that all students must pass before bedside training and contact with patients commences. Students were given seven scenarios, of which five (“before contact to a patient,” “before preparation of intravenous fluids,” “after removal of gloves,” “after contact to the patient’s bed,” and “after contact to vomit”) were correct hand hygiene (HH) indications. Only 33 percent of the students correctly identified all five true indications, and only 21 percent correctly identified all true and false indications.

Additionally, the students expected that their own HH compliance would be “good” while that of nurses would be lower, despite other published data that show a significantly higher rate of HH compliance among nursing students than among medical students. The surveyed students further believed that HH compliance rates would be inversely proportional to the level of training and career attainment of the physician, which confirms a previously discovered bias among medical students that is of particular concern, as these higher-level physicians are often the ones training the medical students at the bedside…..

Hygiene Habit Review Time & How to be Safe Around Animals

With the weather getting warmer (at least here in America’s Midwest), more people will be spending more time outside.
This might be a good time to review good hygiene habits.

Here are some great places to start.

• Nail hygiene is important for gardeners and anyone planning to get down and dirty with Mother Nature.
  The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has some nail hygiene advice including
• Avoid cutting cuticles, as they act as barriers to prevent infection.
• Never rip or bite a hangnail. Instead, clip it with a clean, sanitized nail trimmer.
• Going swimming in a neighborhood or other area pool? Take steps to prevent the spread of germs and illnesses
• Don’t swim when you have diarrhea. You can spread germs in the water and make other people sick.
• Don’t swallow the pool water. Avoid getting water in your mouth.
• Practice good hygiene. Shower with soap before swimming and wash your hands after using the toilet or changing diapers. Germs on your body end up in the water.
• Keep your body as clean as possible. The CDC has a great interactive human body diagram with links to preventative advice.
  Click here for additional tips on facial cleanliness.
• Planning on being around animals at the zoo, at a farm, or at someone’s house or campsite?
  Check out Proper Hygiene Around Animals with parenting tips (many useful for adults also!) that discourage these activities around animals
• Eating or drinking
• The use of strollers, toys, pacifiers, baby bottles, or spill-proof cups
• Hand-to-mouth behaviors, such as thumb-sucking and nail-biting
• Sitting or playing on the ground
• Feeding the animals, unless the contact is controlled with barriers
• Any contact with animals if an individual has open wounds
• Contact with any animal waste

Related Resources

Compendium of Measures to Prevent Disease Associated with Animals in Public Settings, 2011 (National Association of State Public Health Veterinarians, Inc. (NASPHV))

While not aimed to the general public, it does include some good tips, as

Animal Areas

• Do not allow food and beverages in animal areas.
• Do not allow toys, pacifiers, spill-proof cups, baby bottles, strollers or similar items in animal areas.
• Prohibit smoking and other tobacco product use in animal areas.
• Supervise children closely to discourage hand-to-mouth activities (e.g., nail-biting and thumb-sucking), contact with manure, and contact with soiled bedding. Children should not be allowed to sit or play on the ground in animal areas. If hands become soiled, supervise hand washing immediately.
• Ensure that regular animal feed and water are not accessible to the public.
• Allow the public to feed animals only if contact with animals is controlled (e.g., with barriers).
• Do not provide animal feed in containers that can be eaten by humans (e.g., ice cream cones) to decrease the risk for children eating food that has come into contact with animals.

Natural Unseen Hazards Blog – news about natural unseen hazards that may place outdoor enthusiasts at risk

Related articles

• A Guide to Good Personal Hygiene (everydayhealth.com)
• Swimmer’s Ear Responsible for Nearly a Half Billion in Health Care Costs (cdc.com)
• 5 men’s hygiene facts you won’t believe (holykaw.alltop.com)