“The greatest cheap medical fix in all of history: the bar of soap” (Zugar). Soap has turned the commercial industry upside down by allowing the development of any and every kind of hand hygiene product to be created in order to soothe a person’s fear. Almost any kind of product imaginable to man is being made to keep germs on their toes. Ignaz Semmelweis is often credited to having been the first physician to enforce the germ theory of strengthening soap. In “1846” he encouraged hospitals to put to use a stronger form of soap that had an “antiseptic agent” in it consisting of a chloride solution (CDC 1). Today, however, handwashing is becoming one of the fastest growing medical concerns, due to the fact that hand hygiene can actually save a life. According to Nancy L. Pontius, a special correspondent writer for America.gov, “Every year, diarrhea and pneumonia kill more than 3.5 million children under age 5 worldwide. Many of them could have been saved by the simple act of washing hands” (United States. Dept. of State. Bur. of International Information Programs). Using effective hand hygiene, which hinders the spread of germs, is vital to the prevention of disease and preservation of life. Handwashing offers many beneficial effects. One such benefit is that it helps prevent disease. According to the Wisconsin Division of Public Health, illnesses such as “influenza, streptococcus, syncytial virus, and the common cold can be avoided after coughing, sneezing, and shaking hands.” Often by not washing one’s hands, illnesses such as these are passed around unconsciously because little thought is put into what germs could be residing on a person’s hand. This person’s hand could be the hand that fixed lunch for a group of individuals at ... ... middle of paper ... ...ing, Public Health Laboratory Service, Bary Cookson, Gary French, Dinah Gould, Elizabeth Jenner, J McCulloch, Anne Palleh, M Schweigan, Geoffrey Schott, and Jennie Wilson. “Hand washing: a modest measure- with big effects.” British Medical Journal 318.7185 (1999): 686. PubMed. Web. 12 Oct. 2011. United States. Dept. of State. Bur. of International Information Programs. 2008 Global Handwashing Day Promotes Hygiene Education by Nancy L. Pontius.1 Oct. 2008. Web. 11 Nov 2011. “US needs hand with washroom etiquette (Survey of handwashing in public washrooms).” Medical Post 32.33 (1996): 6. LexisNexis. Web. 1 Nov 2011. Wisconsin Division of Public Health. Dept. of Health Services. Handwashing. Sep. 2006. n.pag. Web. 12 Oct 2011. Zugar, Abigail. “The Simplest Health Solutions? It’s complicated.” New York Times. New York Times, 26 Sep. 2011. n. pag. Web. 12 Oct 2011.
Washing your hands properly with soap is one of the most important things you can do to reduce the number of germs, or infections you can spread. The issue that needs to be addressed, is how can we promote good hand washing habits efficiently, to prevent the spread of infectious diseases. For this reason, Kohler will be introducing the “Hygieia” in Q3 of 2016. The Hygieia is a hands free motion detecting sink that dispenses water, and soap simultaneously.
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Whitby, M., Pessoa-Silva, C., Mclaws, M., Allegranzi, B., Sax, H., Larson, E., Seto, W., Donaldson, L. & Pittet, D. (2007). Behavioural considerations for hand hygiene practices: the basic building blocks. Journal Of Hospital Infection, 65 (1), pp. 1--8.
You need to always keep your hands clean. Your hands touch many things during the day and they come into contact with bacterium. If you do not wash your hands, it gives the chance for the bacteria to spread. This increases the risk of an individual contracting a number of illnesses such as the common cold, influenza and other harmful illnesses.
My research prompted me to ask the question, does hand washing occur frequently? Research led me to a study by the Minnesota
Hand hygiene is now regarded as one of the most important element of infection control activities. In the wake of the growing burden of health care associated infections (HCAIs), the increasing severity of illness and complexity of treatment, superimposed by multi-drug resistant (MDR) pathogen infections, health care practitioners (HCPs) are reversing back to the basics of infection preventions by simple measures like hand hygiene. (CNO, 2015)
Both family activity and corporate activity enforce individuals to help encourage others to wash their hands. There are several similarities in terms of percentages and also cautiousness provided to prevent the spread of germs. The effects that it causes are very identical however, each activity focuses on diverse successions needed. A family activities main point is to keep kids and adults healthy whereas a corporate activity focuses on improving health and increasing productivity. The visuals displayed for family activity show parents teaching their child good handwashing technique while on corporate activity there is an
Hand hygiene, when done correctly is the most effective technique to prevent the spread of communicable diseases. It prevents nosocomial infections and transmissions of bacteria from one patient to another (Carter 2002). Hand hygiene has been highlighted significantly by many public health committees as an important aspect of delivering good quality care in health care settings (Lankford,
daily practice of washing their bacteria laden hands in water intended for a batch of
Personal hygiene is something that every person - in every culture - of every age must attend to. While different cultures have different standards of cleanliness, it is something that everyone needs to consider according to Julia Twigg’s The Body and Bathing: Help with Personal Care at Home. Young children, youth, adults, and the elderly must all conform to these standards in one way or another. Due to age some people are incapable of keeping themselves adequate for the society’s sanitation customs. This requires them to acquire help of some sort, specifically when it comes to bathing. Young children and people of old age may need someone to help them bathe, although the approach to both body types is different. While they do share known similarities, the process of bathing people of different age changes the aspect of bathing itself through the eyes of the bather and the bathee.
Why is correct hand washing considered deviant? Hygiene education, for children in first world countries, is focused on proper procedure and how this protects them from germs and the spread of disease. It is ingrained into the minds of preschool children that the most important way they can prevent pathogen contamination is by washing their hands, with soap and water. Yet, even though this is an important habit, a large number of adults never continue with the hand washing techniques they learn in childhood. Through an analysis of the association of contamination in relation to hand washing techniques by female Australian university students, a reason for perceptions of deviance becomes evident. Variables such as social pressure and a strong
The results found where not as those hypothesised. Of all 8 swabs, bacteria were found on each sample. The results found that bacterial count peaked at its highest for high school aged students, with 3065000 bacterial cells being found on the senior 8-10 locker room female bathrooms. Also early learning centre students, whilst being the youngest held the least amount of bacteria on the bathroom door handle with only 12100 bacterial cells; only 3.3% of the bacterial count on senior locker rooms. It was predicted that there would be a gradual decrease of bacterial count on bathroom door handles as the age of the user increased, though as shown in figure 9, there was a significant increase in bacterial count from infant to teenager.
...ng pathogens due to their close proximity to the home. In some cultures, adults believe that a child’s fecal matter is less hazardous than an adult’s, which results in adults handling the child’s feces more freely.7In order to dispel these myths, it is imperative to teach residents, particularly those in rural areas, about the importance of hand-washing. There are several marketing strategies that can be used to promote hand-washing, including pictorial stories, dramas, games, posters, group discussion, and radio and television campaigns.
Effective hand washing is one of the most effective ways to stop the spread of germs and to keep you from getting sick, because it prevents transmission of pathogens. But what exactly is the most effective way to wash hands?