An ideal washroom has a no-touch toilet flush, no-touch faucets, and a no-touch hand dryer, but not all washrooms are ideal. Hand hygiene involves not only washing your hands, but also drying them thoroughly. If everyone washed their hands before leaving restrooms the number of escaping bacteria would be significantly reduced. Although 99% of the people interviewed said that they had washed their hands after using the washrooms, the recording devices showed that only 64% of the women and 32% of the men had actually turned on the faucet to wash their hands. Wonderful informative and healthful hub. In addition, according to the CDC, it is very important to wash your hands before eating and drinking and after using the bathroom. Sometimes, however, the immune system is overwhelmed by the microbial invaders and we become ill. There are certain procedures to be followed while washing hands. jackmac34, via pixabay.com, CC0 public domain license Some researchers acknowledge that they need to do more specific research to study hand washing percentages after urination compared to those after defecation. Excellent hub! However, many studies have demonstrated the beneficial impact of hand washing and/or use of alcohol-based hand rubs for reducing pathogenic bacteria on hands and/or reducing infection rates in various institutional settings , , . This service is not intended for persons residing in the EU. The main entry gate for the germs is the hands. Researchers were not able to test rooms before the patients arrived, and they did not test patients who had had surgery or were in intensive care or other types of units. Three agar plates were set up in preparation for a test for bacteria on finger tips. I do wash my hands after playing a fetch game with my dog, since his saliva and dirt collect on his toys. And fewer than 75 percent of women and 50 percent of men wash their hands after going to the bathroom. Hi, Bill. And while a good 20 seconds may leave your hands relatively germ free, it’s probably better to try for an athletic 30 seconds — just to be safe. However, certain objects are more likely to contaminate our skin than others. The mean number of bacteria recovered from the hands after hand washing with the contaminated soap (2.59 log 10 CFU per hand) was significantly higher than the pre-hand-washing value (P < 0.0001). Before and after hand wash, the bacterial level on fingertips was determined on one hand with the fingertip dipping method (see above) while bacterial level on the palm of the other hand was determined by the palm imprint method using TSA as test agar and incubating for 24 ± 1 h at 30 °C. Hygiene experts say that alcohol-based hand sanitizers do kill germs on the hands, provided they contain at least 60% alcohol. After all...we are all affected by each others' actions when it comes to this. "If I use the trolley and (then) you touch it next and I haven’t washed my hands previously, I can also spread my bacteria to you in that way. The body's defensive mechanisms may need some help under these conditions. Unwashed fingers were placed onto one plate. We should wash our hands before handling food, before eating, before applying a cosmetic or a first aid treatment to the skin, and before putting contact lenses in the eyes. The bacteria may or may … Studying the print we made after handling a mobile phone, Dr Sham said: "The golden colonies seen here are likely staphylococcus aureus – an opportunistic pathogen that can cause serious infection.". "Kitchen sponges – because they are damp, bacteria is able to multiply very quickly," he said. We’ve been on a picture book kick recently. If the hands are still damp then these bacteria are more readily transferred to other surfaces. Bacteria can also be transferred from a person's rectum to another part of their body by lack of hygiene. Students who did not wash their hands with soap showed a significant increase in bacterial load after toilet use (Wilcoxon Signed Ranks test, right hand = 0. Toys that are taken outdoors and slobbery from being held in the dog’s mouth can provide the perfect conditions needed for bacteria to flourish. I appreciate your visit! Most mothers used soap and water (85.3%) for hand washing. Volunteers touched door handles and railings in public places. The bacteria contaminate our hands and enter our body when we touch our nose or mouth. "After (playing with) the dog, you can see a lot more environmental bacteria colonising the surface," said Dr Sham, comparing the print with the control plate. Thomas Silvia from Massachusetts on October 18, 2012: Great hub, very awesome and interesting information. A 2011 study from researchers at the London School of Tropical Hygiene found that washing with water alone reduced bacteria on hands to about one-quarter of their prewash state. Their hands were then tested for the presence of bacteria. In some cases, it's a good idea to wash or sanitize hands after playing with a pet. Wet your hands with clean, running water — either warm or cold. Despite the fact that we're picking up bacteria on our hands all the time, we don't need to become obsessive about hand washing. In a bacteria hand washing experiment, kids are able to see just how many germs are accumulated on their hands after playing, even after they wash their hands! Some researchers are concerned that the use of antibacterial soaps is increasing the resistance of bacteria to chemicals that are designed to kill them. Speaking in the […] J Hyg (Lond). Transient bacteria is what we inevitably pick up in the course of touching or interacting with people and things around us. I've never worn contact lenses, but taking the lenses in and out certainly sound like situations that could create an eye infection. We should also wash our hands after the following activities: Another helpful step to reduce infection is to get out of the habit of touching our nose, mouth, or eyes during the day, unless this is necessary. We should wash our hands thoroughly in high-risk situations, follow a safety routine when using a public washroom, use a hand sanitizer when we need to wash our hands but can't get to a sink, and follow the recommendation of health agencies to wash our hands more often during the outbreak of a disease in our family or in our community. Hand washing (or handwashing), also known as hand hygiene, is the act of cleaning one's hands with soap (or equivalent materials) and water to remove viruses/bacteria/microorganisms, dirt, grease, or other harmful and unwanted substances stuck to the hands. All parts of the hand have to be cleaned—the palm, the back, and the fingers. It's also important after touching animals in petting zoos. And there is an even better way: Alcohol-based handrubs (discussed below) reduce counts by 83%. ... How to remove the bacteria by washing hands. This is especially true when performing an activity that has a high chance of bacterial transfer—such as using a washroom—or after touching an object that's likely to have dangerous microorganisms on its surface. Thanks for the visit. “You can also see that there was some mould on the hand as well. evitaochel, via pixabay.com, CC0 public domain license. But ... That's nowhere near the heat necessary to make dishes truly bacteria free. Plain soap doesn't kill germs, but it does help to remove them from the skin. Some of them also help you to maintain your immune system.". Hygiene procedures while using a toilet and touching the toilet parts are major sources of fecal contamination on the hands. Good hygiene should be taught in homes, schools and encouraged elsewhere. They say that plain soap is sufficient and that antibacterial soap isn't necessary. He explained that two kinds of bacteria can be found on human hands – resident bacteria and transient bacteria. Hand washing is considered to be a very important aspect of hygiene. A whopping 10 percent of hands were “grossly … Three agar plates were set up in preparation for a test for bacteria on finger tips. beglib, via morguefile.com, morgueFile Free License. Gram-negative bacteria were detected in 97% (60/62) of hands tested after washing with bulk soap compared to 52% (32/62) before washing. Research has shown that a surprising number of people don't wash their hands after using a toilet, however. Harmful microorganisms can be transferred to hands from contaminated surfaces people come into contact in daily life. Some supermarkets and other public buildings provide hand sanitizer stations for the public, at least where I live. Alcohol-based hand sanitizers work by killing germs on your hands, while washing your hands with soap and water removes germs from your hands. Vol: 12 No: 2 , April 2016 . Food-borne infections: After working on computers for hours, you forget to wash your hands before having your lunch. In general, you should be washing your hands as frequently as necessary throughout the day. Estimated global rates of handwashing after using the toilet are only 19% 6. Many of us are well protected by our immune system, but we still need to be careful in high-risk situations. Despite the technique in step 6 allows to reduce bacteria approximately 4-fold better than the most common technique in step 3, its duration is greater, an average of 42.5 seconds. Hstoeffler, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain image. Diversity of Skin Bacteria Before and After Hand Wash. Talib J Kadium Salwa Sh. Reducing the number of germs is one thing, actually preventing infection another. A single gram of human feces—which is about the weight of a paper clip—can contain one trillion germs 1. To keep yourself healthy, don’t fall for these tricks to avoiding germs that don’t work. Hygiene experts are serious in their attempts to get us to wash our hands in the best possible way to kill bacteria and other germs, however. "In that sense, we need to be more careful when touching public surfaces.". Apply soap and lather well. so I go, wash my hands, grab a paper towel, open door with towel and then comes the funny bit, I karate kick the button to flush! Thank you for the comment, jainismus, and thanks for the share, too - I appreciate it! The handprint we made after pushing a supermarket trolley while grocery-shopping shed light on the many kinds of bacteria, including staphylococcus aureus, on the trolley handle. 44% of the samples showed the presence of Enterococcus and Enterobacter, two microbes that are often found in feces and can cause diarrhea. Particles released into the air by wringing the hands together were collected in a slit sampler before and after washing with bar soap, with three surgical scrubs, and after rubbing them with a spirit-based lotion. Linda Crampton (author) from British Columbia, Canada on October 21, 2012: Hi, ignugent17. Washing the hands with water alone reduced the percentage of samples with the two kinds of bacteria to 23%. Rub your hands vigorously for at least 20 seconds. In the meantime, we washed our hands thoroughly and made another print - one that turned up drastically less bacteria. Here’s their official hand-washing recommendations, via Digg: 1. This could be a fun way to teach children to wash their hands correctly, but it's not a bad idea for adults either. Besides, he said, not all bacteria is bad for humans. Some also want to determine if the assumption that hand washing after urination is less important for males than for females is actually valid. This is a good reason for maintaining a healthy immune system. This procedure was followed multiple times with each of the twenty volunteers. Although some bacteria can not be cultured in the regular setting (LB agar plate with 5% oxygen), we can still see some bacteria from our hands using a simple culture method. Some people may think it's strange to be told how to wash their hands, since they've been doing it all their lives and it seems like a very simple activity. I am completely nuts about hand washing, I carry a hand sanitizer, and when I got to the public toilets it's a really funny routine! Three days later, the agar plate revealed many thriving colonies of the bacteria that we had inadvertently picked up in the course of the day. The main object of washing hands, is to make the lipids of the surrface to be cleansed SOLUBLE in water (soap makes this trick), and killing bacteria, because depriving them of the lipid cover, the soap destroys the celular wall that protect most of bacteriae-- In addition, according to the CDC, it is very important to wash your hands before eating and drinking and after using the bathroom. Dr Sham also drew attention to the motile bacteria present – microbes that are able to move around the agar plate to gain more resources and grow into bigger colonies. ", Besides, he said, not all bacteria is bad for humans. Linda Crampton (author) from British Columbia, Canada on October 25, 2012: Thank you very much for the visit and the comment, Fiddleman. 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