Your suggestions are great and served as an eye-opener for me. ... How to remove the bacteria by washing hands. Dr Sham also drew attention to the motile bacteria present – microbes that are able to move around the agar plate to gain more resources and grow into bigger colonies. Wonderful informative and healthful hub. Washing the hands with soap removes many harmful bacteria. It's interesting that such a simple action as washing the hands can be such a big help in preventing the spread of disease! Washing your hands limits the transfer of bacteria, viruses, and other germs, according to the Mayo Clinic. This could be a fun way to teach children to wash their hands correctly, but it's not a bad idea for adults either. ", Besides, he said, not all bacteria is bad for humans. The germs of the hands unwashed can contaminate foods and drinks or can be transferred to toys, tabletops, and from person to person, causing illness in others. Sometimes, however, the immune system is overwhelmed by the microbial invaders and we become ill. "After (playing with) the dog, you can see a lot more environmental bacteria colonising the surface," said Dr Sham, comparing the print with the control plate. Harmful microorganisms can be transferred to hands from contaminated surfaces people come into contact in daily life. "You can wash your hands 500 times but because the environment is filled with bacteria, you are bound to pick it up somewhere." All parts of the hand have to be cleaned—the palm, the back, and the fingers. Some health experts say that we should wash our hands with soap and water after touching pets. The main entry gate for the germs is the hands. Hi, I need to explain this strange result for University. “This shows how soap and water definitely removes more bacteria on your skin’s surface,” he said. It's a good idea to stay as far away from a toilet as possible as it flushes. Thanks for the visit. Despite the fact that we're picking up bacteria on our hands all the time, we don't need to become obsessive about hand washing. Drugs, supplements, and natural remedies may have dangerous side effects. We should wash our hands thoroughly in high-risk situations, follow a safety routine when using a public washroom, use a hand sanitizer when we need to wash our hands but can't get to a sink, and follow the recommendation of health agencies to wash our hands more often during the outbreak of a disease in our family or in our community. And while a good 20 seconds may leave your hands relatively germ free, it’s probably better to try for an athletic 30 seconds — just to be safe. This was our control plate. "After daily use, if you don’t disinfect your kitchen sponge, you actually end up spreading the bacteria from one item to another instead of cleaning it.". "Now that you know this, you should wash your hands really well and even apply skin disinfectant," Dr Sham said. Three days later, the agar plate revealed many thriving colonies of the bacteria that we had inadvertently picked up in the course of the day. 109 . The body's defensive mechanisms may need some help under these conditions. These include norovirus, a common cause of stomach flu; rotavirus, another common cause of infectious diarrhoea; as well as respiratory viruses like influenza and adenovirus. Every time you leave your house, wash them thoroughly when you return. 44% of the samples showed the presence of Enterococcus and Enterobacter, two microbes that are often found in feces and can cause diarrhea. If everyone washed their hands before leaving restrooms the number of escaping bacteria would be significantly reduced. I face a similar situation - I have two dogs, three cats and two birds in my home! Researchers helped 90 students in five second-grade classes culture their hands before and after washing or using sanitizer gel. so I go, wash my hands, grab a paper towel, open door with towel and then comes the funny bit, I karate kick the button to flush! Studying the print we made after handling a mobile phone, Dr Sham said: "The golden colonies seen here are likely staphylococcus aureus – an opportunistic pathogen that can cause serious infection.". This is especially true when performing an activity that has a high chance of bacterial transfer—such as using a washroom—or after touching an object that's likely to have dangerous microorganisms on its surface. In a bacteria hand washing experiment, kids are able to see just how many germs are accumulated on their hands after playing, even after they wash their hands! "So that suggests that your sponge is not as clean as you expected.”. 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