ECJ EUROPEAN Cleaning Journal

A three-year study into the effects of hand washing on reducing illnesses has proved that the practice really does work.

The study, which involved 20,000 adults, is the first large-scale randomised test to confirm that increased hand washing leads to lower rates of infection. It looked at the impact of hand washing on rates of acute respiratory, influenza-type and gastro-intestinal illnesses.

"Until this trial it wasn't really clear whether hand washing really did work," said lead researcher Paul Little, professor of primary care research at the University of Southampton in the UK. "But we now know that this is the case."

During the trial a group of adults were given access to online materials asking them about their hand washing practices and providing education on the spread of germs and viruses. It also gave out information about the most important times to wash the hands. This group saw a 15 to 25 per cent reduction in infections compared with the control group.

The trial also revealed that the people who had seen the hand washing reminders reported 10 per cent fewer visits to their GPs, indicating that a similar scheme made available to the wider public could reduce the burden on the NHS.

This group also required fewer antibiotic prescriptions, which Little claimed to be significant in the light of current attempts to reduce antibiotic use. And the study suggested that online campaigns to encourage hand washing could be useful in the event of a pandemic since the internet is the first place people turn at the onset of an outbreak.