If there is one habit that can save you from some life-threatening diseases, it has to be handwashing. Keeping your hand hygiene game on point is necessary to ward off avoidable infectious, viral and bacterial diseases. According to the World Health Organization, proper hand hygiene can prevent 50% of avoidable diseases and infections. Remember peak COVID times? How handwashing and hand hygiene saved us from this lethal virus attack. This global handwashing day, let us recollect the importance of hand hygiene and the appropriate way of hand washing through factual infographics.
According to Dr Sumeet Nigam, General Physician in Sahara Hospital, Lucknow, regular handwashing is very important. Our hands carry a lot of germs, bacteria and viruses that are present in the environment and can easily enter the system if you don’t wash them off. Therefore, handwashing is crucial.
How Can You Fall Sick By Not Washing Hands?
We all know that poor hand hygiene can make you fall ill, we should be informed of how irregular handwashing can affect our health. Here is the step-by-step mechanism:
- You carry germs & bacteria- You may expose yourself to dirt, debris, infected surfaces, faecal waste, airborne virus, etc. that gets carried to your hands and skin.
- You touch your nose, eyes and mouth with dirty hands- You touch your sensory organs with your hands that contain the pathogens and it allows them to enter the body.
- You eat with dirty hands- Our mouth is the easiest entry to the human body and when we eat with dirty hands, the germs and bacteria get easy access to the system.
- They enter your system and affect organs- After these pathogens enter the body, they target your vital organs or weak points.
- You catch infections and diseases- When the immune system is attacked, you fall prey to infections and diseases.
When do you need to wash your hands?
Regular handwashing is a good habit but there are certain instances where you must wash your hands without fail. Check this infographic to understand better:
Wash your hands before
- Cooking meals
- Eating
- Touching any open wound
- Using and touching public surfaces
- Handling your contact lenses
You must wash your hands with soap properly before conducting the above-mentioned tasks because pathogens may trigger infections and diseases.
Wash Your Hands After
- Using toilets
- Changing diapers of babies
- Touching an animal
- Sneezing, coughing and wiping the nose
- Touching dirt and handling garbage
All the above circumstances are potential carriers of germs, bacteria and viruses. Your hands act as their transporters to the human body.
Also Read: Why Hand Washing Is Essential for Your Health and Well-being
What Are The Diseases That Can Be Prevented By Handwashing?
Keeping hands clean is very important for securing overall health and well-being. Proper handwashing can forestall numerous chronic and acute illnesses that most people do not have knowledge of. Let us briefly talk about some here.
Diarrhoea
As per CDC, over five lakh children succumb to diarrhoea annually. This is an intestinal infection caused by parasites. The primary cause of diarrhoea is consumption of contaminated food and water. While this is prevalent in children, adults can also get diarrhoea. Handwashing eliminates all the pathogens from your hand to reduce the risk of this intestinal infection.
Pneumonia
This is one of the major causes of death of young children and accounts for 13% child deaths across the globe. This is a type of lung infection that can become life threatening if not treated on time. Hand Washing can prevent this condition by blocking the entry of pneumonia-causing bacteria to the system.
Also Read: Risk Of Pneumonia In Kids Doubles In Winters, Understand Potential Causes and Prevention
Respiratory Infections
Common cold, flu, influenza, etc. are some of the respiratory infections that we are susceptible to particularly during changing seasons. These can get easily transmitted to one other through touch. If you touch any surface that a person with flu has used, this makes you an easy target of the virus. Similarly, shaking hands with someone who is exposed to any kind of bacterial or viral infection can make you next in line. Therefore, handwashing is necessary.
Watch this video to know the importance of handwashing:
Communicable Diseases
Lately, we are seeing many communicable diseases spreading like a wildfire. Be it covid, nipah or seasonal disease like chickenpox, you can prevent all these simply by washing your hands at regular intervals.
Eye Infections
Touching your eyes with dirty and infected hands increases the risk of eye infections and diseases. Some people may face extreme consequences including partial blindness.
Hepatitis A
According to the CDC, hepatitis, a serious liver infection can spread due to poor hand hygiene. Someone who is at risk of hepatitis A should ensure proper hand hygiene to stay safe from this chronic illness.
Also Read: Symptoms, Causes, Treatment, and Prevention of Viral Hepatitis
What Is The Right Way of Handwashing
This might sound weird but yes there is a handwashing guide issued by WHO in order to minimise the risk of potential illnesses that we have already covered earlier. This was needed because multiple studies and surveys including a research published in the Journal of Environmental Health shows that more than 90% people do not wash hands properly and for enough time. This makes the pathogens stay on the hands and cause the damage.
We all should follow these steps to wash our hands properly:
- Wet your hands with clean water
- Take soap or hand wash
- Rub it in your palms for 20 seconds
- Scrub between your fingers and back of the hands
- Rinse with clean water
- Dry your hands with a clean towel
This is a 30-second process but worth doing considering the damage control it can do. This procedure can kill germs and bacteria from your hands to cut down the risk of falling sick.
Final Word
Global handwashing day is observed to spread awareness regarding the importance of handwashing and how to do it correctly to avail the benefits. Everyone needs to be watchful of these little habits as these lay significant impact on our well-being. For more such information, keep following Onlymyhealth.com.