Determined to carry out a study on daily hygiene, researchers at the University of Michigan took the time to observe 3,749 people washing their hands in public toilets. And the conclusions of this observation are surprising: only 5% of people know how to wash their hands properly. That is to say by soaping for a long time and rubbing enough hands and wrists to remove all traces of germs.
“For perfect hygiene, we should soap our hands for at least 20 seconds. We must also take care to wash well between the fingers, on the palm, in short in all the places in contact with surfaces on which the bacteria are deposited ”explains Carl Borchgrevink, who directed this study which has just been published in the Journal of Environmental Health.
However, of the 3,700 people studied, 10% do not wash their hands at all when leaving the toilet (15% of men and 7% of women), 33% are content to run their hands under water without using soap (mostly men) and 52% wash their hands in less than 15 seconds.
Finally, hand washing is more common in the morning than in the evening! “At the end of the day, people are more relaxed and washing their hands becomes less important,” adds Carl Borchgrevink.
A few months ago, the health barometer of the National Institute for Prevention and Health Education (Inpes) showed that 7 in 10 French people did not wash hands after taking public transport or after blowing their nose, and that 4 out of 10 people did not wash their hands before cooking, whereas hand washing is the essential gesture to prevent the spread viruses and infections.
