Health experts say washing hands reduces the spread of viruses and other organisms that causes various diseases, including cold, influenza, throat and ear infection, food poisoning and cholera.
They considered frequent hand washing as the single most effective way to cut down the spread of infectious diseases. Proper and consistent hand washing greatly reduces the risk of spreading germs.
In particular, they said that both adults and children should wash hands properly before eating, after using the toilet, after being outdoors, after playing with pets, and after coughing, sneezing, or blowing their noses. In addition, adults need to wash their hands before preparing or serving food, after caring for a sick child, after cleaning up spills, and after other cleaning activities, the experts asserted.
According to them, careful routine cleaning of surfaces and toys also greatly reduces the spread of germs. There are many excellent cleansers and disinfectants available for home and commercial use. Scrubbing surfaces and toys with soap and water is a good way to start, but in places where children are together in-groups, regular use of a disinfectant or a disinfectant cleanser is safer.
They stated that making a routine practice of frequent hand washing and careful cleaning of surfaces and toys can go a long way toward preventing the spread of common illnesses and make all our homes, schools and child care settings healthier places.
The Pakistan Society of Family Physicians Secretary General, Dr Sheharyar Bhatti, told Business Recorder that washing hands often could prevent more than 50 percent of food borne illnesses at home. So, before, during and after cooking, washing hands often in warm, soapy water-especially after handling raw meat, poultry and seafood could be habitual.
He maintained that hand washing is the simplest and most effective way to reduce the spread of infectious diseases and infections can spread by touching surfaces that have harmful organisms on them.
He stated that shaking hands with another person could also spread infection. Among the most common infections spread by hand are colds, influenza, and throat and ear infections, he added. 'In addition, millions of food poisoning cases each year, are blamed on people who prepare food without washing their hands. More serious diseases like cholera and hepatitis are spread this way, too. Many patients in hospitals also get infections. Some die from them. The spread of infections often is blamed on health workers, who do not wash their hands after treating patients', he pointed out.
He advised the people to wash hands frequently for 10 to 15 seconds, use friction to scrub all surfaces of the hands, pay particular attention to fingernails and between fingers and rinse well under a steady stream of warm water.
About washing hands in children, he said that recent medical studies have confirmed that kids can spread infectious diseases to adults, too, and often the adults get even sicker than the kids do. Although, it is probably not possible to eliminate the spread of infectious diseases, two simple hygiene practices can dramatically reduce the spread of illness.
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