Washing hands with Soap and water

chelsea8611

Washing hands with Soap and water

Among the viruses soapy hand washing flushes down the drain is the one that causes the common cold. Other removable viruses cause hepatitis A, acute gastroenteritis and a host of other illnesses.

[ch12288][ch12288]A separate key finding was that waterless handwipes only removed roughly 50 percent of bacteria from volunteer subjects?hands.

[ch12288][ch12288]"We studied the efficacy of 14 different hand hygiene agents in reducing bacteria and viruses from the hands," said Emily E. Sickbert-Bennett, a public health epidemiologist with the University of North Carolina Health Care System and the UNC School of Public Health. "No other studies have measured the effectiveness in removing both bacteria and viruses at the same time."

[ch12288][ch12288]For the first time, too, the UNC researchers tested what happened when people cleaned their hands for only 10 seconds, Sickbert-Bennett said. That represented the average length of time researchers observed busy health-care personnel washing or otherwise disinfecting their hands at work.

[ch12288][ch12288]"Previous studies have had people clean their hands for 30 seconds or so, but that

GrindOnDemand

hmmm, interesting ... I worked for a while at St Vincents hospital in Sydney, & during the induction we were told that basically the same state of 'cleanliness' is achieved by rubbing one's hands together vigourously under water for 30 seconds without soap, compared to with soap. Basic message conveyed?  That anti-bacterial washing agents (like soap) are useless, & that hygeine is more dependant on water and rubbing/scrubbing. I'm not saying that they're correct, but it's just a different slant on things.

chefrob

...... Florence Nightingale came back from the Crimean War with a very poor record of surviving patients, though she believed in disinfecting the wards, personal hygiene and washing hands. It was later discovered that her hospital was built over an open sewer, and this was the source of most of the diseases that killed the soldiers. Her legend is not about treating soldiers directly under her care in the Crimean War, but in the changes to the Hospital system that she undertook after the war. And Hippocrates must get a mention here as well. As early as 340BC he was advocating a clean and sterile enviroment for surgical procedures. This helped to keep the Roman Army on the march and all conquering, as a wounded soldier was quickly repaired and thrust into the battle again. So the moral of the story is, wash your hands frequently, for at least 30 seconds under  a tap with soap. And don't build a Hospital over an open sewer.

chefrob

To Chelsea8611 What are you trying to say? Your original post is definately worth thinking about, and hygiene is my top priority. But please explain!!  

askthecoffeeguy

I think that the original post might be spam but it does raise some interesting issues as I think that there is a lot of room for improvement generally within the hospitality industry especially as far as cleanliness and personal hygiene go More than once I've walked into a cafe / butcher shop etc and observed very poor hygiene (most recently a at a butcher shop in Hampton a guy wiped his runny nose with the back of his hand then continued to handle the meat with his bare hands - gross!) - then walked out again If that's what's going on front of house I shudder to think what is going on back of house! Pat

floatncoffee

nothing disinfects more than steam..... and we all have stream from out machines so always rub your hands under the steam wand for about 30 sec.. thats the best way for keeping nastys away Ryan just kiddin