General Chat

This is a scary story on the BBC. 53% of men in Newcastle have faecal bacteria on their hands.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7667499.stm

More than one in four commuters has bacteria from faeces on their hands, an investigation suggests.

Scientists from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine swabbed 409 people at bus and train stations in five major cities in England and Wales.

The further north they went, the more often they found commuters with faecal bacteria on their hands - men in Newcastle were the worst offenders.

Experts stressed the importance of hand hygiene for preventing illness.

The bacteria found suggested people were not washing their hands properly after using the toilet, said the researchers.

In Newcastle and Liverpool, men were more likely than women to show contamination - 53% of men compared with 30% of women in Newcastle and 36% of men compared with 31% of women in Liverpool.

In the other three cities - London, Cardiff and Birmingham - the women's hands were dirtier.

People who had used the bus had higher rates of hand contamination than those who had used the train.

Manual workers had cleaner hands than other professionals, students, retired people or the unemployed.

Dr Val Curtis, director of the Hygiene Centre at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said: "We were flabbergasted by the finding that so many people had faecal bugs on their hands.

"The figures were far higher than we had anticipated, and suggest that there is a real problem with people washing their hands in the UK.

"If any of these people had been suffering from a diarrhoeal disease, the potential for it to be passed around would be greatly increased by their failure to wash their hands after going to the toilet."

Professor Mike Catchpole, director of the Health Protection Agency's Centre for Infections, said: "These results are startling and should be enough to make anyone reach for the soap.

"It is well known that hand washing is one of the most important ways of controlling the spread of infections, especially those that cause diarrhoea and vomiting, colds and flu.

"People should always wash their hands after using the toilet, before eating or handling food, and after handling animals. And remember to cover all cuts and scratches with a waterproof dressing."

The HPA's monitoring of infections over recent weeks suggests that cases of norovirus - the winter vomiting bug - are rising and that the annual norovirus season is likely to have begun.

Norovirus is the most common cause of gastrointestinal disease in the UK with peak activity in terms of numbers of cases and outbreaks during the winter months, from October to March.

It has been estimated that between 600,000 and a million people in the UK are affected each year.

Professor Catchpole said: "Norovirus is highly infectious and easily spread in settings where people are in close contact with one another so good hygiene, including frequent handwashing, is really important."

The study was part of the world's first Global Handwashing Day, dedicated to raising awareness about the importance hand hygiene plays in public health.

DIRTY HANDS
Newcastle - men 53%, women 30%
Liverpool - men 36%, women 31%
Birmingham - men 21%, women 26%
Cardiff - men 15%, women 29%
Euston (London) - men 6%, women 21%

Rose

Lovely aint it ....................they could be the people making your lunch!!!!!!!!!!

Eeew!!!! I wonder if they did the same tests in restaurant kitchens???? You'd never eat out if you knew would you?

I will now be trying not to touch anything on the bus.

They have done this before and it showed that MOST of the balls at a bowling alley were covered in this faecal matter

I'm going to make sure I have a good supply of sanitising gel in my handbag!

Rose

Terrible reflection of people's poor hygiene habits.

It's interesting to read that manual workers hands were cleaner than some others. It has often suprised me just how many 'posh' women have walked straight out of a public toilet without so much as a nod at the washbasins.

Gwyn

That is revolting. I have a bug at the moment - no wonder :s

i was in london recently and had to go to the loo which is in the park opposite clarence house off the mall as i was washing my hands this young girl came out of the cubicle and went straight out did'nt wash her hands, i followed her out and what do you think?she was working in the little ice cream booth just down from the tiolet, yuk, yuk ,yuk.

I once sat in a pub garden where you could see the sink in the men's loos under a frosted glass window. I didn't eat the peanuts on the bar having seen the number of men who didn't wash!

disgusting

Sounds like a "Lot" of "Old Crap" **M**.:o))))>.pmsl. Ps. Peeing on your hands or feet is supposed to be a good cure for "Frostbite":o))>.

I was a mere kid in the 1960s but my grandmother and many of the other grown-ups never went out in public without their gloves. There was a practical reason for this.

She told me it was to stop picking up other peoples' germs because you never knew where their hands had been. More people were reliant on public transport in those days, so thousands of other hands had touched the hand rail/seat/door handle before you did.

Gran remembered the great flu epidemic and her family and friends being isolated in a TB sanitorium so to her other peoples' poor hygiene could be literally a matter of life and death rather than a nasty tummy ache or the like.

Claire.....

Yum! I rememer this being told about peanuts on a bar once before. I am sure they surveyed various bowls on bars and found high levels of urine deposits......yuck! It put me off buffets for ages!

Ann,

Thats scary and disgusting.

love T.x

I watched a programmes years ago about it.
It showed you how it was all passed around...via ,door handles,light switches,pens, tap 's etc.
So even if you do wash your hands you are still picking up germs.
If I am going to eat, I open the door with my pinkie lol
And never eat mints or peanuts from a dish yuck.

When you think about it, even a dish of nuts in your own house at a party, even if all wash their hands, they are still full of germs from their mouth.

Most woman was their hands ofter going to the loo. The odd one I have seen walk straight out,I feel like shouting...you dirty b***h lol

Marion

That's a right eye opener but if you think about it its not that much of a surprise.

Janet

Shopping trollies are as bad.So make sure you wash your hands before you get stuck into that fresh bread you just bought :))

Pretty mingin when you think about it...eww

and never put your bags on the floor and then when you get home put them on the worktops ,yuk, or if you do remember to wash them down before you prepare food

Ann
I hang my bag up when possible,I've even been known to hold it in mt teeth rather than put it on a piddly floor lol.
Now...whats on the handle of my bag I wonder lol

i know , realy i have to be soooooooo
desperate to wee anyway before i use a public loo

Disgraceful. I was once advised that when welcoming visitors to the office, who invariably have popped to the loo whilst waiting for you in reception, whatever you do, don't shake their hand.

Now I know why.....!