MicrobeWorld

Read Press Release (2003)

SPANISH TRANSLATION

American Society for Microbiology Survey Reveals That As Many As 30 Percent of Travelers Don’t Wash Hands After Using Public Restrooms At Airports.

Chicago, Illinois, September 15, 2003 – Does it take an outbreak of a frightening, potentially fatal infectious disease, like severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) or a gastrointestinal illness on a cruise ship, to get people to follow Mom’s advice to “wash your hands after using the bathroom?” Apparently, it may.

Results of a new survey, announced today at the 43rd Annual Interscience Conference of Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC), show that many people still aren’t washing their hands in public places, exposing others to the risk of infection, despite recent outbreaks of infectious diseases.

Although illnesses as deadly as SARS and as troublesome as the common cold or gastric distress can be spread hand-to-hand, the survey sponsored by the American Society of Microbiology (ASM), found that many people passing through major U.S. airports don’t wash their hands after using public facilities. More than 30 percent of people using restrooms in New York airports, 19 percent of those in Miami’s airport, and 27 percent of air travelers in Chicago aren’t stopping to wash their hands. The survey, conducted by Wirthlin Worldwide in August 2003, observed 7,541 people in public washrooms in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Dallas, Miami and Toronto.

Hand Washing Survey Results by City

In contrast to airports in the United States, the vast majority of travelers using the airport restrooms in Toronto, Canada – a city which experienced a major SARS outbreak – washed almost every time.

U.S. airport observations contrast sharply with an August 2003 Wirthlin telephone survey of 1,000 Americans, in which 95 percent said that they wash their hands in public restrooms. The same phone survey – which found only 58 percent of people say they wash their hands after sneezing or coughing and only 77 percent say they wash their hands after changing a diaper – highlights the seriousness of the problem.

In a similar Wirthlin survey conducted in 2000 for the ASM, 95 percent reported they always wash their hands with only 67 percent observed washing their hands (based on 7,836 adults). A 1996 Wirthlin survey showed 94 percent of people claiming to always wash their hands with only 68 percent actually observed doing so (based on 6,333 adults).

Spurred by the latest findings, the ASM is redoubling its educational efforts, launching Take Action: Clean Hands Campaign – a national initiative to educate Americans about health risks associated with poor hand washing habits.

“Although hand washing seems like such a little thing, it could really have a powerful impact on the way we manage the spread of infectious diseases and newer public health threats, like SARS and the Norwalk virus responsible for cruise ship illness,” said Dr. Judy Daly, ASM Secretary. “The same people that fail to wash after using restrooms go on to pick up children, handle food, greet family and use other public facilities. Hand washing can be instrumental in controlling the spread of common and more serious infections,” says Daly, Director of the Microbiology Laboratories, Primary Children’s Medical Center, University of Utah, Salt Lake City.

However, more people may be getting the hand washing message. In the 1996 and 2000 surveys, 67-68 percent of people observed in public restrooms washed up. In this survey overall, 78 percent of those observed washed their hands, although settings and populations were different and the results may be skewed by the high percentage of hand washers in Toronto.

Dr. Donald Low, Chief of the Department of Microbiology at the University of Toronto and Toronto’s Mt. Sinai Hospital, one of the lead investigators of the Toronto SARS outbreak, said he wasn’t surprised by either the almost universal hand washing at Toronto’s airport, or the low levels in other cities. “The message about the importance of hand washing was put out every day here,” he said. “And not just because of SARS – hand washing is the smart thing to do. It should be second nature for all of us.”

Low, who said that he is sure the hand washing rate in Toronto prior to the SARS outbreak was similar to that in other cities, notes that “it’s such a simple, basic important tool to prevent disease transmission. Yet people ignore this step again and again. It’s even been shown that health care workers don’t wash their hands between patients.”

“Our experience with SARS was such a wakeup call. People in the hospital here have changed their hand-washing habits. Here in Toronto, it has become a natural course of action,” Low said.

Press Release

Hand Washing Survey Fact Sheet

Hand Washing Fact Sheet

HAND WASHING STUDIES

• A recent survey conducted for the American Society of Microbiology (ASM) in the U.S. and Canada found that in some instances, almost one third of people who use public restrooms while passing through international airports fail to wash their hands. The survey, conducted by Wirthlin Worldwide in August 2003, observed 7,541 people in public washrooms in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Dallas, Miami and Toronto.

•In contrast to U.S. findings, the survey found that in Toronto, which experienced a well-publicized outbreak of SARS, 95 percent of those using airport restrooms washed their hands.

•It is well-documented that the lack of hand washing spreads disease in health care-related settings; however, the impact of hand washing on infectious diseases among the general public in community settings has not been as extensively studied.

•Several studies show that most physicians (95 percent) and nurses
(90 percent) believe they wash their hands correctly; however, researchers have observed that even the hand washing technique of health care professionals can be inadequate.

Importance of Hand Washing
Disease Prevention

•Hand washing is one of the simplest and “most important means of preventing the spread of infection,” according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In fact, hand washing is the first line of defense against infectious illnesses, particularly those that are commonly spread by hand-to-hand contact, including common colds, flu and numerous gastrointestinal disorders.

•Infectious diseases remain the leading cause of death and disease worldwide, as well as the third leading cause of death in the United States.

Consequences of Poorly Washed Hands
Infectious Illnesses

•While new and frightening conditions such as SARS grab headlines, flu – and pneumonia, its most common complication – IS the fifth leading cause of death among Americans over the age of 65 and the sixth leading cause of death among all Americans. The CDC estimates that 20-26 percent of Americans are infected with the flu during flu season, which typically lasts from November to March. Of these 50,000-70,000 die each year.

•The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) estimates that Americans suffer a staggering one billion colds each year, and those colds are caused by more than 200 different viruses. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 8,437 people worldwide became sick with severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) this year. Of those people who became sick, 813 died as a result of the disease.

•Hand washing may be one of the public’s best defenses against the spread of both common and rare, even life-threatening, diseases such as SARS, and against gastrointestinal infections caused by the Norwalk virus, which has recently plagued the cruise ship industry.

Food-Related Illnesses

•As many as 76 million people become ill each year from food-related illness in the U.S., resulting in about 325,000 hospitalizations, and approximately 5,000 people die, according to the CDC.

•Failing to wash, or insufficiently washing hands, contributes to many food-related illness outbreaks. Hands can transfer germs from contaminated raw meat, eggs and poultry to other foods, or from an infected person to the food.

•While many people are aware that you can get sick from eating food contaminated by E. coli 0157:H7 bacteria, it is not as well known that other ways of transmission, such as touching surfaces contaminated with this strain of E. coli, also can cause illness.

•There are more than 250 foodborne illnesses. Food-related disease costs the United States up to $5-$6 billion annually for health care expenditures and productivity losses.

Infection in Childcare Centers

•According to the most recent data from the U.S. Department of Education, 60 percent of children under age six, almost 13 million, attend daycare outside their homes. Children attending daycare are at greater risk for gastrointestinal diseases and they are likely to spread these diseases to other family members and people in the community.

• It has been demonstrated that proper hand washing can substantially decrease the incidence of diarrhea in children attending daycare centers.

Infection from Pets

•The CDC has reported an alarming number of salmonella infections associated with reptiles, in both adults and children.

•All pet owners need to take adequate measures after handling and cleaning up after their pets, including proper hand washing.

Antibiotic Resistance

• In addition to preventing widespread public health epidemics, regular hand washing can reduce the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

•The CDC estimates the cost of treating antibiotic-resistant infections in the United States is $4 billion annually.