Hand Washing: A Cornerstone to Prevent the Transmission of Diarrhoeal Infection

D. H. Tambekar ； S. D. Shirsat

《Asian Journal of Medical Sciences》 1卷3期 (2009/11) Pp. 100-103

並列摘要

The present study was on the effect of hand washing in reducing spread of diarrhoeal infection among students. A total of 400 hand swab samples of 100 students were analyzed before and after hand washing and hands of all students were found to harbor bacterial pathogens which include ＂Staphylococcus＂ sp. (23%), ＂Escherichia coli＂ (20%), ＂Klebsiella＂ sp. (10%), ＂Micrococcus＂ sp. (9% ), ＂Proteus＂ sp. (7% ), ＂Citrobacter＂ sp. (7%), ＂Streptococcus＂ sp. (7% ), ＂Enterobacter＂ sp. (6% ), ＂Enterococcus＂ sp. (4%), ＂Pseudomonas＂ sp. (3%) and ＂Salmonella＂ sp. (2%). While the percent reduction of these pathogens after hand washing were ＂Salmonella＂ sp. (100%), ＂Staphylococcus＂ sp. (88 %), ＂Escherichia coli＂ (59%), ＂Enterococcus＂ sp. (59%), ＂Proteus＂ sp. (55%), ＂Streptococcus＂ sp. (54%), ＂Citrobacter＂ sp. (45%), ＂Micrococcus＂ sp. (44%), ＂Klebsiella＂ sp. (39%), ＂Enterobacter＂ sp. (37%), and ＂Pseudomonas＂ sp. (31%). The data indicates that the hands of the male (42%) were less contaminated than female (58%). The present study showed clear evidence of 54% decrease in microbial flora after hand washing. Thus, it can be concluded that hand washing is a cornerstone to prevent the diarrhoeal infection.

並列關鍵字

Hand washing ； hygiene ； infection and students