Everytime you touch an object or shake someones hand, you are picking up bacteria and viruses too. There are an estimated 1500 bacteria and viruses living on each square centimeter of skin on our hands.
Clean hands prevent many common and life threatening infections. Many illnesses start when hands become contaminated with disease causing bacteria and viruses. This can happen while using the toilet, contact with a childs excreta, coughing, sneezing and touching other peoples hands, and touching other contaminated surfaces. For example, a single gram of human faeces can contain 10 million viruses and one million bacteria, infant faeces is particularly pathogenic.
When hands are contaminated with disease causing bacteria and viruses, these pathogens can enter the body or pass from one person to the other to cause disease. Two most common major illnesses transmitted on the hands are diarrohea and pneumonia. Together diarrohea and pneumonia account for more han 20% of the the total deaths of children under the age of five. Cleaning and disinfecting hands particularly before eating or preparing food and after contact with fecal matter from using the toilet or cleaning a childs bottom is one of the most effective ways to prevent disease.
Alcohol based rub sanitisers are proven to kill 99.9% of bacteria, fungi and viruses including enveloped viruses such as the flu virus, the common cold virus and the HIV virus.
According to the Center for Disease control and Prevention (CDC), about 80% of infectious diseases are spread by touch. All it takes is the simple act of touching a germ riddled door handle and touching your nose, mouth or eyes to get infected.
Some of the more innocuous hand transmitted diseases are as follows
Common cold
- According to the center for disease control and prevention clean hands can lower the risk of catching a respiratory illness by 45%. While not as serious as other disaeases a common cold can still make you feel miserable and ruin your week.
Staph
- Caused by a bacteria commonly found on the skin and in the noses of healthy people, staph can become life threatening if the bacteria gets deep into your body and infects your blood, joints and heart. Things can get particularly dangerous with and antibiotic resistant Staph strain called MRSA.
Chicken pox
- Chickenpox can easily spread from the fluid released from an infected person’s nose and mouth while coughing and sneezing. Hence, it is advised to immediately wash hands after being in contact with an infected person. This helps to lower the varicella-zoster virus, the cause of the contagious disease.
Measles
- Measles is an infectious disease that is highly found in children under the age bar of 5. The disease spreads easily when one is in contact with an infected individual. It spreads when the infected person sneezes or coughs. Hence, one should wash hands with soap and running water to avoid the spread of bacteria that might stay on hands after being in contact with the infected person. One can also use alcohol-based hand sanitizer in case of unavailability of soap and water.
Eczema
- Eczema is a skin condition that leads to dry, itchy, and flaky skin. It can easily spread by the use of products or in touch if an infected person. Hence, one should keep their hands washing when in touch with an infected individual. One should also avoid using the products used by the infected person to avoid bacterial infection.
Worm infestations
- Worm infestations mean the intestinal worms caused due to consumption of contaminated food and water. To avoid such situations one should wash their hands thoroughly with soap and water to kill the minute bacteria present on hands that can cause the bacterial infection. Avoiding a hand wash gives an easy way to bacteria enter the intestine and cause worm infestations.
Strep Throat
- A sore throat caused by a Streptococcus A infection can be highly contagious to others and spread by hands contaminated with saliva. Typically this condition is treated with antibiotics but in some cases this can lead to scarlet fever, rheumatic fever, a kidney disease called PGSN and the pediatric autoimmune disease PANDAS.
RSV
- As per the center for disease control and prevention, almost all children will have an RSV infection by the time they turn two. Symptomatically this disease presents as a common cold. But in some children especially those prematurely born or people over the age of 65 with weakened immune systems, this virus can cause breathing problems, pneumonia, bronchiolitis and death.
Viral Gastroenteritis
- Norovirus is the most common cause of viral gastroenteritisin humans and can affect all age groups. It is transmitted by people who do not wash or adequately disinfect their hands after using the bathroom and worryingly can spread very quickly within large groups of people in close quarters. This is why when one person gets ill with the Norovirus infection, entire households or offices catch it too.
Hand foot and Mouth Disease:
- This disease is spread by direct hand contact with Fecal content. It can affect your skin on your hands and feet and your oral mucosa. The common symptoms include blister like painful bumps in the mouth, on the palms of your hands and the soles of your feet, a fever and loss of appetite. This infection caused by the coxsackievirus is common in day cares and schools.
Giardiasis
- This parasitic infection easily spreads by contaminated drinking water or by hand to fecal content contact. Clean hands can prevent this microscopic parasite from taking up residence in your small intestine where it can cause nausea, diarrhea and dehydration. John Hopkins childrens hospital states that clean hands are particularly important before preparing food items to prevent the spread of this parasitic infection.
Pink Eye – Bacterial Conjunctivitis
- The pink-eye infection happens due to the spread of bacteria or due to any eye allergies. It can spread easily by soiled or dirty hands. Hence, one should wash hands with soap and water to stop the spread of bacteria. One should also avoid repetitive touching of products used for the eye. One should also avoid continuous rubbing of eyes with hands, this can worsen the condition.
Salmonellosis
- A big reason to disinfect your hands is that you are touching poop particles or Fecal matter way more than you realize. This is the reason how salmonella gets passed around. This bacteria is resident in the intestines and is communicated by touch when handling food items contaminated by fecal matter and bacteria.
Mononucleosis
- Mononucleosis and the Epstein Barr virus that causes this is transmitted through saliva. If you cough or Sneeze into your hands and touch objects with contaminated hands, this virus can rapidly infect people that touch your contaminated hands or those objects.
Significantly the more serious and life threatening hand transmitted diseases include
Cytomegalovirus
- Clean hands especially with pregnant women can prevent the transmission of this virus in the Herpes family that can cause serious harm to your unborn child including hearing and vision loss, intellectual disability and even death. Cytomegalovirus can be transmitted by hands contaminated by infected saliva or urine
Hepatitis A
- Hepatitis A is a viral infection which is often spread by food contaminated by people preparing it who haven’t washed and disinfected their hands adequately after using the bathroom. This condition can cause severe symptoms including problems with the liver, jaundice, abdominal pain, fever and fatigue. Hepatitis A does not cause chronic liver failure like Hepatitis B and C, but in some cases it can cause acute liver failure and necessitate hospitalization. Most outbreaks of Hepatitis A are know to have been transmitted from eateries where the kitchen personnel haven’t adequately cleaned their hands after using the bathroom and touching fecal matter.
Influenza
- The influenza virus can be deadly and not just to the very young or old or immuncompromised patient.
Meningitis
- The health issue happens due to the inflammation of fluid around the brain and spinal cord. It can spread easily through the respiratory tract and by sharing things like food utensils, toothbrushes, lip balms, and many other things. Hence, it is advised to wash hands properly and avoid the spread of bacteria causing the disease.
Coronavirus
- As you likely know by now, people are understandably concerned about the coronavirus or COVID – 19 that is spread by hands. This new virus can lead to pneumonia, severe acute respiratory failure with a mortality rate as high as 5%.
