A Serious Look at Handwashing
By Gretchen Foster
Keeping your hands clean is one of the best preventions we can take to keep from becoming ill and spreading germs to others . Many diseases and conditions are spread by not washing hands with soap and clean , running water . Most everyone knows this but yet we ’ ve all seen individuals rushing out of the bathroom without washing their hands . Yikes !
How do germs get on to your hands ? Feces ( yes , poop ) from people or animals is a big source of germs like Salmonella , E . coli O157 , and norovirus which cause diarrhea , and some respiratory infections like adenovirus and hand-foot-mouth disease . Germs like these get onto our hands after people use the toilet , change a diaper , and also after handling raw meats that have invisible amounts of animal poop on them . A single gram of human feces ( about the weight of a paper clip ) can contain one trillion germs . Germs can also get onto our hands if we touch objects that have germs on them because someone has coughed or sneezed on it or if it was touched by some other contaminated object . When these germs are not cleansed off our hands , they are passed from person to person thus making people sick .
Prevention of contamination with handwashing . Washing our hands with soap is such a simple task and yet it performs the important and often unappreciated task of removing germs . This simple yet important act helps prevent infections because : People frequently touch their eyes , nose , and mouth without even realizing it letting germs get into the body making us sick . Germs from unwashed hands get into foods and drinks where people prepare or consume them . Germs can multiply in some types of foods or drinks and make people sick . Germs from unwashed hands can be transferred to other objects , like handrails , table tops , or toys , remote controls , handshakes , and then transferred to another person ’ s hands . Removing germs by simply washing your hands helps prevent diarrhea , respiratory infections , and may help prevent skin and eye infections .
Not washing hands harms children around the world . About 1.8 million children under the age of 5 die each year from diarrheal diseases and pneumonia , the top two killers of young children around the world . Handwashing with soap could protect about 1 out of every 3 young children who get sick with diarrhea and almost 1 out of 5 young children with respiratory infections like pneumonia . Although people around the world clean their hands with water , very few use soap to wash their hands . Washing hands with soap removes germs much more effectively Handwashing education and access to soap in schools can help improve attendance . Good handwashing early in life may help improve child development in some settings .
Handwashing helps battle the rise in antibiotic resistance . Preventing sickness reduces the amount of antibiotics people use and the likelihood that antibiotic resistance will develop . Handwashing can prevent about 30 % of diarrhea-related sicknesses and about 20 % of respiratory infections ( e . g ., colds ). Antibiotics often are prescribed unnecessarily for these health issues . Reducing the number of these infections by washing hands frequently helps prevent the overuse of antibiotics — the single most important factor leading to antibiotic resistance around the world . Handwashing can also prevent people from getting sick with germs that are already resistant to antibiotics and that can be difficult to treat .
Teaching people about the importance of washing their hands helps them and the people around them , possibly you , stay healthy .
Go wash those hands !
46 DENTON COUNTY Living Well Magazine | MARCH / APRIL 2018