Colorado State University Extension
SafeFood Rapid Response Network


SAFEFOOD NEWS - Winter/Spring 2001 - Vol 5, No. 2/3

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Handwashing Important in Preventing Spread of Disease

What is the single most important thing we can do to prevent the spread of infection? According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), it's washing our hands. In the hospital, it's washing our hands between patients or before visits to patients. In the home, at work or in school, it's washing our hands before preparing or eating food, after changing diapers, and after using the bathroom.

Although handwashing is something that should have become an ingrained habit before we were out of kindergarten, it's on its way to becoming a lost art in this country, if recent studies are any indication. In a review of contributing factors to foodborne disease outbreaks over a 5-year period, the CDC reports that poor personal hygiene was a contributing factor in over a third of the outbreaks.

The CDC has identified the five most common household scenarios in which disease-causing germs are transmitted by contaminated hands. These include:

Hands to food: Germs are transmitted from unclean hands to food, usually by infected food preparers who didn't wash their hands after using the toilet. The germs are then passed to those who eat the food.

Infected infant to hands to other children: During diaper changing, germs are passed from an infant with diarrhea to the hands of a parent or caregiver. Unless the caregiver immediately washes his or her hands, the germs are then passed to the second child he or she works with.

Food to hands to food: Germs are transmitted from raw, uncooked foods, such as chicken, to hands, and then onto other foods, such as salad. Cooking the raw food kills the initial germs, but the salad remains contaminated.

Nose, mouth, or eyes to hands to others: Germs that cause colds, eye infections, and other illnesses are spread to hands by sneezing, coughing, or rubbing the eyes. They are then transferred to other family members or friends through direct contact or through foods handled by the infected person.

Food to hands to infants: Germs are transmitted from raw, uncooked foods to infants by parents or caregivers who don't wash their hands between handling raw chicken, for example, and tending to an infant.

Handwashing can prevent the transfer of germs in all five of these scenarios. The CDC recommends vigorous scrubbing with warm, soapy water for at least 20 seconds, then rinsing with clear water and drying with a clean towel. Any type of soap will do. It's not necessary to use anti-bacterial soap. In fact, the American Academy of Microbiology warns against widespread use of anti-microbial products as they are likely to lead to the development of more resistant bacteria.

Source: CDC Media Relations Press Release, Why is handwashing important? March 6, 2000. Available at www.cdc.gov/od/oc/media/pressrel/r2k0306c.htm

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