National Handwashing Week observed December 1-7; CDC provides recommendations

This is National Handwashing Week. Many diseases and conditions are spread by not washing hands with soap and clean, running water. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommends washing hands to avoid getting sick and spreading germs to others. The recommendations for effective handwashing and use of hand sanitizer were developed based on data from a number of studies.

People often get sick when they make contact with germs from feces on their hands. These kinds of germs can get onto hands after people use the toilet or change a diaper, but also in less obvious ways, like after handling raw meats that have invisible amounts of animal feces on them. A single gram of human feces - which is about the weight of a paper clip - can contain one trillion germs.

Germs can also get onto hands when touching any object that has germs from someone else who coughed or sneezed on it. When these germs get onto hands and are not washed off, they can be passed from person to person and make people sick.

The CDC encourages washing hands to prevent illnesses and the spread of infections to others because:
• People frequently touch their eyes, nose, and mouth without even realizing it. Germs can get into the body through the eyes, nose and mouth and make us sick.
• Germs from unwashed hands can get into foods and drinks while people prepare or consume them. Germs can multiply in some types of foods or drinks, under certain conditions, and make people sick.
• Germs from unwashed hands can be transferred to other objects, like handrails, tabletops, or toys, and then transferred to another person’s hands.

Effective handwashing helps communities stay healthy, reducing the number of people who get sick with diarrhea, reducing diarrheal illness in people with weakened immune systems, reducing respiratory illnesses, like colds, in the general population, and reducing  absenteeism due to gastrointestinal illness.

The CDC recommends the following for effective handwashing:
• Handwashing with soap could protect about one out of every three young children who get sick with diarrhea, and almost one out of five 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.
• Estimated global rates of handwashing after using the toilet are only 19%.
• Handwashing also helps battle the rise in antibiotic resistance.

For more information, contact Veterans Memorial Hospital (VMH) Community and Home Care-Allamakee Public Health at 563-568-5660.