Avoid hysterical hygiene

Avoid hysterical hygiene

11/10/2013

Especially with colds, most people are aware that they should keep their distance from other people, so as not to act as sprouting. A book published in Austria gives advice on proper cleanliness and warns against excessive hygiene.

High concentrations of germs
On only one square centimeter of skin on the hand, up to 6,000 germs and up to 150 different types of bacteria can be found. On the forehead and in the hair, it can even be 20,000 germs per centimeter. Therefore one must be afraid of others as potential human germs? „No, we do not have to be afraid, but we should be aware that in large cities with many people there are also high concentrations of germs“, so the author of the book Manfred Berger.

Do not spread panic
The author of the book „Hysteria hygiene“, Dr. Berger, says he does not want to spread panic, but he does „I want to point out that we treat hygiene a bit too carelessly. It has become a matter of course in the Western world and if you do not recognize the dangers of globalization, it can become critical.“ He deals with questions such as: How much cleanliness is still healthy? How should we behave properly in everyday life in order to protect our health and especially that of our children in the long term? Where are fears and where exaggerated? Berger told Austrian news agency APA: „Excessive hygiene is just as dangerous as no hygiene at all.“

A toothbrush for the whole family
Andrea Grisold, a professor at the Graz Institute of Hygiene, Microbiology and Environmental Medicine, says that the Austrian is not necessarily one who exaggerates hygiene. Statistically, it would show that the people in Austria are somewhat negligent when it comes to the regular change of toothbrush or bedding. „A toothbrush for the whole family is definitely not enough“, so Grisold, and: „The sheets should be changed more often than every six months.“

Lack of hygiene in hospitals
A far greater problem with incorrect hygiene, however, arises in hospitals, because the spread of the germs is partly also attributable to the lack of hygiene of the staff. For example, Ursula Frohner, President of the Austrian Health and Nursing Association, criticized: „Only 30 to 60 percent of nurses carry out the prescribed hand disinfection.“ Due to hospital germs, about 3.2 million people in Europe would contract every year, of which 60,000 in Austria. And 37,000 Europeans, including 1,500 Austrians, die each year.

Infection prophylaxis hand hygiene
Many of these diseases could have been avoided if the strict hygiene guidelines of the hospitals had been adhered to. In his book, Berger cites the hygiene officer of the Vienna St. Anna Children's Hospital, Christina Peters: „The most important infection prophylaxis is proper hand hygiene.“ Elisabeth Presterl, Head of the Clinical Institute for Hospital Hygiene and Infection Control at the Medical University of Vienna, emphasizes: „The hands are the most common carriers of pathogens.“

30 seconds of water and soap
Frequent hand washing is therefore not an exaggerated, but rather a sensible habit. „Especially in flu times - and the flu season starts soon - you should wash your hands even more often than usual“, so Grisold. Researchers at the University of Regensburg have found that the germ colonization of the hands goes back almost 30 percent after only 30 seconds of soap and water.

Social aspect of hand washing
The Viennese doctor Christoph Wenisch also referred to the social aspect of hygiene measures: „Hand washing is also a protection for my fellow human beings.“ He sees the social value among others in it, „that I contribute mine to not transmitting disease to others. Who sneezes in the hand and then gives it to another, is unfair.“

Bacteria hotspot kitchen
In the household, most bacteria are found in the kitchen, even more than in the toilet. Mops, sponge cloths and cleaning sponges teem with germs. And as experts said two years ago, the faucet is another bacteria hotspot. Danger lurks in the refrigerator, too, unless it is cleaned regularly, because then it could prevail in a higher germ burden than about on a toilet seat. The Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety (AGES) has also been included in the study „Food safety and hygiene in the private household“ have to realize that one Austrians not necessarily a hand washing hysteria could say. The surveys have revealed that while 80 percent washed their hands before or during cooking, after food preparation only 52 percent of them did.

Healthy dirt
In his book, author Berger also talks about the topic of dealing with parents and their offspring. Often parents try to limit the need for research of infants for hygienic reasons and forbid them to get dirty. But the Viennese surgeon Harald Rosen represents completely different views in Bergers book: „We all ate half a sandbox as children and it did not hurt us. On the contrary.“ The author himself states: „All the doctors and hygienists I interviewed were convinced that too much hygiene was responsible for the rise of allergies, especially in the urban area.“ The explanation lies in the fact that an immune system, which is protected above all and everyone, can not be trained, because „it has to overcome minor and major infections in order to train.“ Therefore, it is important to keep a balance between clinical cleanliness and „healthy dirt“. (Ad)

Picture: josupewo