Wash your hands! Keep the germs away!

The World Health Organization declared May 5 World Hygiene Day as part of its SAVE LIVES:  Clean Your Hands program. Their aim is to bring attention to the importance of good hand hygiene since the proper washing of hands is the most effective protection against disease and one of the most important tools for preventing infections in health care.

One would think that hand washing (before meals, after using the toilet or touching a contaminated item, etc.) is a self-evident routine activity.  Surveys, however, show that it is not so:  six out of ten individuals do not wash hands after they arrived home.  Yet, it would be worthwhile to remember the many various items or surfaces, from door handles, hand holds, coins and keyboards to toilet levers that we had touched during the course of the day that contain countless germs.  These germs could later be transferred from our contaminated hands to the eyes, nose, mouth or mucous membranes of the genitals, or, by circumventing the protective layers of skin, go through a small wound and enter our body causing infection and inflammation. 

It is especially important that we protect the children, the elderly and the sick. The World Health Organization’s data show the importance of good hand hygiene:  according to WHO, 3,5 million children die every year from diseases that could have been avoided with hand washing.  The simplest and the most effective method for protection against pathogens is hand washing.  It can protect us from the simplest cold and viral skin infections to gastritis and numerous other contagious diseases.  Just by washing hands after using the toilet, 45% of diarrheal diseases and 23% of respiratory diseases could be avoided.

When should we wash our hands?

• Always wash your hands whenever there is a danger of infection: after using public transportation when going to work or home and not only when the contamination is visible.   
• Hand washing after using the toilet is part of our basic body hygiene.   Washing our hands before using the toilet should be as important since, we should not touch our most intimate body parts with contaminated hands.
• Hand washing before a meal should also be natural since the germs from our hands can get into our digestive system with our food.
• When we are visiting, the first thing we should do is to go to the bathroom to wash our hands, especially, where there is an infant or a pregnant woman or, by chance, illness in the family, since the underdeveloped, weak or run-down immune systems are acutely vulnerable to germ attacks.

What is a thorough hand wash?

Proper hand washing should, actually, be taught early in childhood.

According to hygienists, proper hand washing should include not only the palm but also the fingertips, the back of the hand and the thumb should be washed thoroughly with soap for at least 30 to 60 seconds.  Warm water increases the effectiveness of hand washing, but if that is not available (on trains, when hiking, in badly equipped bathrooms, etc.), cold water is better than nothing.  The soap may be in a bar or liquid form (the latter more hygienic in public bathrooms), and, since the soap also destroys the skin’s natural protective layer of fat, it would be good if the cleaning agent, in addition to cleaning the skin, would also contribute cream and nourishment to the skin.  Disposable paper towels or electric hand dryers should be used for hand drying in public places.

If we cannot wash our hands, we should use a hand disinfectant solution or gel in which case, all of the hand surfaces should be covered with the disinfectant. One should make sure that the hand stays wet from the solution during the entire time that the disinfectant is being rubbed in. 

Application:
The hand disinfectant solution or gel may be used for disinfecting the hand or skin at work, at home or while travelling.

Effectiveness:
Bactericide, fungicide, mycobactericide, virucide against shell covered viruses (including HBV, HIV, HCV).  Also against Adeno and Rota viruses.

For example:

• hand disinfection before or after caring for the sick, the elderly or infants,
• when visiting a sick person,
• before and after using the toilet,
• while traveling or hiking.

Hospital hand hygiene

Good hand hygiene is even more important in the hospital setting where it is more likely that we meet up with contaminating germs and individuals with rundown immune systems.  The most important and cheapest method for preventing infection in health care is a hand disinfectant with the appropriate antimicrobial spectrum used together with the correct hand disinfection technique.

The WHO’s global annual campaign advocates the need to improve hand hygiene practices through the education of health-care workers, by informing patients and visitors and raising public awareness with posters and other means in order to reduce the spread of life-threatening infections in health-care facilities.

The Buda Health Center has given high priority to developing good hand hygiene habits among the staff members and visitors for many years.  A hand disinfectant dispenser is located at the main entrance of all their sites and, during the previous World Hygiene Day, had launched a hand hygiene information program for the entire staff.  The program included hand inspection, hand hygiene education and testing, checking the effectiveness of hand disinfection, checking fluorescence and monitoring multi-resistant pathogens.    

Feel free to contact our specialists!

At the Buda Health Center, you have the opportunity to attend the private practices of more than 300 renowned specialists, offering expertise in nearly 45 medical specialisms, at five locations. Personalized care is provided by a well-trained and empathetic staff of professionals, who have been working together for a long time. Based on our 23 years of experience and the feedback received from our 450,000 clients, we are constantly working to organize our healthcare services in the most efficient way possible for those who visit us, paying respect to their needs and time.

Book an appointment on weekdays between 08:00 and 20:00 on +36 1 489-5200!