Massachusetts Personal Injury Library
Hand Washing Can Protect Children from Flu
One of the most powerful ways to keep from getting the flu is to wash hands with soap and water, according to recent studies published in The New York Times. One study, done at the University of California-Berkeley, videotaped 10 college students as they read and typed on their laptops, said the Times. The scientists found that students touched their faces an average of 47 times during a three-hour period, once every four minutes.
Hand to face contact
The scientists say that germs can enter the body through breaks in the skin or through the membranes of the eyes, mouth, and nose, so hand-to-face contact has a huge impact on health, said the Times. The same study found that hand-to-face contact accounts for one-third of the risk of flu infection, according to a report in the journal Risk Analysis, said the article.
Another study looked at four residence halls at the University of Colorado where they placed hand sanitizer dispensers in two of the dorms' rooms, bathrooms, and dining areas, and students received educational materials about hand washing, said the Times. The other two dorms did not receive these as the control site but scientists studied illness rates there, according to the article.
During the eight weeks of the study, students in the first two dorms had a third fewer complaints of coughs, chest congestion and fever, and overall the risk of getting sick was 20% lower in the dorms where hand washing was emphasized, and students missed 43% fewer days of school, said the Times.
Elementary school students use hand sanitizers
Another study of 6,000 elementary school students in California, Delaware, Ohio, and Tennessee, students in classrooms with hand sanitizers had 20% fewer absences due to illness, and teacher absenteeism in those schools dropped 10%, according to the Times.
A Harvard study looked at hand washing in the home. The Times article said that of 300 families with children five or younger in day care, half the families were given hand sanitizer and educational materials, and other half were the control group with no instructions. In homes with hand sanitizers, the risk of catching a flu from a sick child dropped 60% compared with control families, according to the article; families with the highest rates of sanitizer use had a 20% lower risk of catching an illness from a sick child.
Good old soap and water
Studies show that regular soap and water and alcohol–based hand sanitizers are both effective in eliminating the H1N1 virus from hands, said the Times. Although people can still get sick from infected persons coughing or sneezing, hand washing lowers the risk of getting flu-like illnesses, according to the Times.
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