Washing Your Hands Saves Lives

“clean hands” by Arlington County is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0. According to MedlinePlus, you should wash your hands for at least 20 seconds. You may be more familiar with that rule of thumb to sing the “Happy Birthday” song at least two times through before turning off that faucet. But while we’re admonished to do so, it’s difficult to say what’s actually put into practice even while we know it helps stop the spread of germs. In fact, it can even help stop the spread of superbugs! How else is it important? The Center for Disease Control has put together some fast facts (and citations) on the importance of handwashing: It is estimated that washing hands with soap and water could reduce diarrheal disease-associated deaths by up to 50%. Researchers in London estimate that if everyone routinely washed their hands, a million deaths a year could be prevented. A large percentage of foodborne disease outbreaks are spread by contaminated hands. Appropriate hand washing practices can reduce the risk of foodborne illness and other infections. Handwashing can reduce the risk of respiratory infections by 16%. The use of an alcohol gel hand sanitizer in the classroom provided an overall reduction in absenteeism due to infection by 19.8% among 16 elementary schools and 6,000 students. Read more and find additional resources on the Germs and Hygiene MedlinePlus topic page. Like NNLM SCR on Facebook and like us on Twitter.
Source: Network News - Category: Databases & Libraries Authors: Tags: Consumer Health General (all entries) Public Health Source Type: news