Hand hygiene is an easy and efficient way to avoid infections. Cleaning your
hands can prevent the spread of germs, including those that are resistant to
antibiotics and are becoming difficult, if not impossible, to treat.
If you have the virus on your hands, you can infect yourself by touching your
eyes, mouth or nose. You might think that you don’t touch your face very
often, but it’s much more than you realize. A 2015 study found that people
touch their faces an average of 23 times an hour.
Even in Current Scenario Coronavirus (COVID-19) outburst is a respiratory
illness, meaning it is mostly spread through virus-laden droplets from coughs
and sneezes. If you don’t catch your coughs and sneezes in tissue and safely
dispose of it, the virus can end up on surfaces. If someone else touches that
contaminated surface, the virus can transfer onto their hand.
Washing hands prevents illnesses and the spread of infections to others.
Hand Hygiene: Why, How?
Why?
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Thousands of people die every day around the world from infections
acquired while receiving health care.
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Hands are the main pathways of germ transmission during health care.
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Hand hygiene is, therefore, the most important measure to avoid the
transmission of harmful germs
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And prevent healthcare-associated infections.
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Germs from unwashed hands can be transferred to other objects, like
handrails, tabletops, or toys, and then transferred to another person’s
hands.
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Removing germs through handwashing, therefore, helps prevent diarrhoea and
respiratory infections and may even help prevent skin and eye infections.
How?
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Clean your hands by rubbing them with an alcohol-based formulation, as the
preferred means for routine hygienic hand antisepsis if hands are not
visibly soiled. It is faster, more effective, and better tolerated by your
hands than washing with soap and water.
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Wash your hands with soap and water when your hands are visibly dirty or
visibly soiled with body fluids or after using the toilet.
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If exposure to potential spore-forming pathogens is strongly suspected or
proven, including outbreaks of Clostridium difficile, hand washing with
soap and water is the preferred means.
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Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds
especially after you have been in a public place, or after blowing your
nose, coughing, or sneezing.
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If soap and water are not readily available, use a hand sanitiser that
contains at least 60% alcohol. Cover all surfaces of your hands and rub
them together until they feel dry.
On average, healthcare providers disinfect their hands less than half the time
they would. Health-related diseases are rising the focus of doctors, insurers,
policymakers, and regulators. It is not only because of the severity of the
issue in terms of associated morbidity, mortality and medical costs but also
because of the increasing awareness that most of these are preventable.
Clean Hand Protects against Infections!
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