Be careful who you shake hands with

This report from New Zealand:

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10474966

Apparently a study conducted in New Zealand shows that up to 20% of men don't wash their hands after going to the toilet. The figures are consistent with results from other studies around the world. In addition, 7% of women don't wash their hands after going to the toilet.

If you watch TV for an hour you will be hard pressed to not see an ad for kitchen and bathroom cleaners. And what do these ads focus on? The fact that your kitchen and bathroom are hives of filth and bacterial decadence. Unbeknownst to you, these sensitive areas of your home are alive with danger. And if you don't use their products you are putting your entire family at risk.

But what this study tells you, is you can buy all the heavy duty, antiseptic, hospital strength cleaners on the market, but for every 5 males who either lives in your house or visits it, there is one dirty little individual who doesn't wash his hands, and is therefore a conduit for disease.

So, you have a party and invite 20 people, 10 males and 10 females. Playing the odds, 2/10 of the males, and 1/10 of the females, will be non-post-toilet-handwashers. So you have three people loose at your party, who are spreading germs directly from your toilet to whatever they touch, which includes communal food plates, your TV remote or your children. In fact, if you shook their hand when they walked in, you have inadvertently welcomed the fruits of their bad hygiene onto your own skin. Very nice of you.


The other thing this article fails to address is the report a few years ago, that automatic hand dryers make your hands dirtier than before you washed them, because they get dirty and then harbour bacteria that they then spray back onto your hands.

And for that matter, there was a report that said after you wash your hands, the act of touching the tap to turn it off, also introduces huge numbers of germs to your skin.

So what's the solution?

1. Don't invite males to your parties. They are 3 times more likely to be non-post toilet handwashers than females.

2. In total, 1 in 7 people that you come into contact with, doesn't wash their hands after they go to the toilet. You can't really tell, because asking them will probably lead to denial, so you really are just better off minimising your contact with other people.

3. Carry around antiseptic to spray on your hands, any surfaces you come into contact with, other people's hands and miscellaneous household pets and children that cross your path.

4. Investigate the practicality of wearing a self-contained space-suit to minimise content with airborne particles. Be sure to sterilise the helmet before wearing it.

5. If you wash your hands, dont turn off the tap, because its dirty. Leave it running. Or ask someone else to turn it off for you. Don't shake their hands afterwards to thank them, especially if they are male.

6. Don't use automatic hand dryers. Instead, wipe your hands on your clothes. Unless they have been exposed to airborne disease, which they have been.