World Hand Hygiene Day

Posted on 5 May 2015

How often do you wash your hands? If your hands look clean, surely they are clean? Not quite. Here’s why.

The average person touches their face around 16 times per hour – that means whatever germs your hands have touched will can enter your system via your nose, mouth, skin, eyes, etc. Since bacteria multiply rapidly in warmth and moisture, the human body can be a breeding ground for bacteria. In the right conditions one bacterium can multiply to 4 million in eight hours. That’s a scary thought. But the good news is that regular, proper hand-washing really helps to banish bacteria!

The information provided in this article was correct at the time of publishing. At Mediclinic we endeavour to provide our patients and readers with accurate and reliable information, which is why we continually review and update our content. However, due to the dynamic nature of clinical information and medicine, some information may from time to time become outdated prior to revision.