Who's clean?

Quick View. Oct. 13, 2003.

In a recent survey of visitors to washrooms in airports...

Results of an August survey conducted by Wirthlin Worldwide demonstrate that many people still don't wash their hands in public spaces, exposing others to the risk of infection, despite recent outbreaks of infectious diseases such as SARS or the arrival of the upcoming flu season.

The survey, which involved the observation of 7,541 people in public washrooms at the following international airports, concluded that almost one third of travelers failed when it came to hand hygiene. In contrast to behavior in U.S. airports, an overwhelming majority of travelers in Toronto, which experienced a major SARS outbreak, washed every time.

Reminder: Why it matters

• Hand-washing is one of the simplest and most important means of preventing the spread of infection.
• Infectious diseases are the third leading cause of death in the United States.
• Several studies show that most physicians (95%) and nurses (90%) believe they wash their hands correctly; however, researchers have observed that even the hand-washing techniques of health care professionals can be inadequate.

Source: American Society for Microbiology