It’s cold and flu season. Are you a good hand-washer? When do you wash your hands? Hand washing is one of the most effective ways to decrease your chances of getting a cold or the flu.
Making a habit of good hand hygiene is an easy, effective way to prevent infections and sicknesses. If you’re someone that chooses to skip the hand washing once in a while, read these mind blowing statistics and you might think again next time!
- 80% of communicable diseases can be transferred by touch (person-to-person contact).
- Washing your hands a few times a day can reduce diarrhea rates by 40%.
- Touching your face with dirty hands spreads sicknesses pneumonia, a cold, and the flu.
- Pneumonia is the number one cause of childhood death, and is preventable by regular hand washing.
- The two most important times to wash your hands are before and after preparing food, and after going to the bathroom.
- Less than 75% of women and less than 50% of men wash their hands after using the bathroom
- When you flush a toilet with the seat up, a mist containing bacteria is spread over about 6 square meters. Even worse… Sinks in public bathrooms are 90% covered in this bacteria.
- The ideal amount of time to wash your hands is 30 seconds, but 15 is recommended at the very least.
- Most bacteria on our hands is under our fingernails, so when you’re washing, be sure to scrub underneath them.
- Damp hands are 1,000 times more likely to spread bacteria than dry hands, yet only 20% of people dry their hands after they wash them.
- Reusable cloth towels have millions of bacteria in their fibers. Using disposable paper towels is the cleanest way to dry your hands.
- Studies show that people who wash their hands have 24% less sick days because of respiratory illness, and 51% fewer sick days due to a sick stomach.
Are you grossed out yet!? Sorry, but we had to let you know.
Handwashing with soap removes germs from hands that can make you and others ill. Without even realizing it, most of us touch our face, eyes, mouth, and nose often throughout the day. This is where germs can make their entrance into our bodies and make us ill.
Germs Spread Quickly Onto Surfaces
Unwashed hands can transfer germs to other objects, like handrails, tabletops, desks, phones, and other objects before being transferred to another person’s hands. Desktops in particular are quite germ-covered. Most were found to have 400 times more germs than even a toilet seat! That’s why sanitizing frequently in your office and home is essential along with regular handwashing to minimize the spread of germs.
Handwashing Helps Against Antibiotic Resistance
When you wash your hands well and often, it prevents sickness that might otherwise be treated with antibiotics. When antibiotics are used too frequently, it causes a resistance that doesn’t allow the antibiotics to work as effectively the next time around they’re needed. Around 20% of respiratory infections (like colds) and 30% of diarrhea-related illnesses can be prevented by effective handwashing, according to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.
Scrub for a Minimum of 15 Seconds
Handwashing isn’t effective if you don’t do it for a long enough time. At a minimum, you want to scrub your hands with clean, warm, and soapy water for at least 20 seconds. You can hum the “Happy Birthday” song twice to ensure you do it long enough. Or, switch it up with some other 30-second choruses from Queen or Beyoncé if you’re tired of the traditional birthday jam.
Can’t get to a sink? Use an alcohol-based sanitizer in the meantime. To prevent the spread of germs during the COVID-19 pandemic, use a hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol.
Check out these websites for more information on hand washing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKiHCKycN1I