Today Global Handwashing Day was celebrated at Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation (SIUT). It was organized by the Department of Infectious Diseases. Dr. Shehla Baqi and Dr. Asma Nasim conducted an interactive session on how hand hygiene saves lives in the hospital setting. Infection Control practitioners, Romaila Kauser and Rahat Masroor had already done much of the awareness raising work, posting Infection Control messages throughout the hospital.
Hand hygiene is essential in hospitals since it prevents the transmission of germs which are often resistant to many antibiotics and can prove to be lethal. Not only the patient, but his immediate environment is a “jungle of bacteria” as stressed by Dr. Asma Nasim.
In the community setting, in homes and schools, hand hygiene is equally important. Many diseases are spread by the fecal-oral route, such as typhoid, hepatitis and infectious diarrhea. Therefore, hand washing after going to the toilet and before meals is a habit that should be deeply ingrained in all persons. The common cold and the potentially deadly influenza viruses are also spread through the hands, as is the highly infectious form of viral conjunctivitis.
Any brand of soap is effective provided that the technique of hand hygiene is proper and includes scrubbing between the fingers, back of the hands and under the nails. Nails should be kept short. For convenience, one can keep hand sanitizers in the pocket which are effective if they have at least 60% alcohol content.
In the recent floods, SIUT stressed the importance of hand hygiene and distributed soap to the displaced families as an essential measure in preventing epidemics in the camps. Hand hygiene must be practiced in the following situations: before and after preparing food, before and after eating food, after using the toilet, after changing diapers or cleaning up a child who has used the toilet, before and after tending to someone who is sick, after blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing and after handling an animal or animal waste.