The average person’s hands carry at least 3,000 different germs.
Germs easily get onto hands in everyday life’s operations. Touching your phone, your keyboard, a doorknob, a hand-shake…, or more obviously by coughing or sneezing in your hands. Harmful bacteria as E.Coli and Salmonella can also hop onto the surface of your hands while cooking and handling raw meats. An improper hand hygiene leads to cross contamination and spreading of germs.
Infections occur when pathogens enter the body and begin to multiply. On average, people touch their faces about 16 times an hour. Some people less, others as many as 100 times per hour, which leads to many opportunities for germs to infect people.
Proper and regular hand hygiene practices are the best ways reduce the risks of cross-contamination and to prevent you from being sick. If soap and water are not available, the use of an alcohol based hand sanitizer will effectively eliminate the germs present on hands. Sanitizing surfaces like your desk and mobile phone is also a good way to eliminate the potential dangers of a cross-contamination right at the source.
Sources:
Daily News. 2008. The feminine touch carries more germs. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn15104-the-feminine-touch-carries-more-germs/.
KSL. 2009. Study: Keeping hands away face will reduce spread of germs. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=8535962.
Dr William P Sawyer. 1999. Do you have any idea what germs could be on your hands?. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.henrythehand.com/pages_blocks/images/links/GermsHands08.pdf.
