Review of Related Literature

Learning to properly take care of your body is one of the most important skills you will
ever learn. Certain parts of the body require special attention or techniques to keep them
healthy and clean. Through proper hygiene practices you are not only protecting and caring for
yourself, you are helping prevent the spread of germs to others, such as with frequent hand
washing practices. Good hygiene extends beyond your own personal body. Keeping areas
where you live and work clean supports good hygiene also.

(Proper Hygiene Methods | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/way_5489665_proper-hygiene-

methods.html#ixzz1MJMbEW9J.)

Young children are more vulnerable than any other age group to the ill effects of unsafe water,
poor sanitation and lack of hygiene. These contribute to 88 per cent of deaths from diarrhoeal diseases.
Children under 5 years old account for nearly 90 per cent of deaths from diarrhoea.

The simple habit of handwashing with soap is estimated to reduce the incidence of diarrhoea by
nearly half. It also greatly reduces the risk of respiratory infections such as pneumonia and other
diseases, including eye infections, especially trachoma.

Parents and caregivers should wash their hands with soap and water at these critical moments:
(1) after cleaning the infant or young child who has defecated, (2) after helping the child use the toilet or
latrine, (3) after going to the latrine or toilet themselves, (4) before touching food and feeding young
children, and (5) after dealing with refuse.

Parents and caregivers need to help children develop the habit of washing their hands with soap
before eating and after using the latrine or toilet. Where soap is not available hands can be washed with
ash and water. Animal and human faeces should be kept away from houses, paths, water sources and
children's play areas.

The use of latrines and toilets together with good hygiene practices – specifically hand washing
with soap – are essential public health tools. They protect children and families at little cost and help
realize children's right to good health and nutrition.

Everyone in the community needs to work together to build and use toilets or latrines, practise
good hygiene, protect water sources, and safely dispose of waste water and refuse.
 It is important for governments to support communities by providing information on how to design
and build latrines and toilets that all families can afford. In urban areas particularly, government support
is also needed for low-cost sanitation and drainage systems, safe drinking water and refuse collection.

(http://www.factsforlifeglobal.org/09/)

Hygiene Facts

60% of men DO NOT wash their hands after visiting the toilet

40% of women DO NOT wash their hands after visiting the toilet

Touching a grab rail on the underground system brings you into contact with 5000 hands,
many of which are unwashed!

There are more germs on a computer keyboard than there are on your toilet.

A survey on catering workers, which showed 39% did not wash their hands after going to
the toilet and 53% did not do so before they prepared foods.

Over half the teenagers surveyed said they did not always wash their hands before eating
lunch at school, even though two-thirds had a meal such as a packed lunch or burger and
chips which they had to eat using their hands.

NOSOCOMIAL CROSS INFECTION

In the UK it is admitted by the government that at least 300,000 patients contract a NI

during their stay in hospital with a mortality rate of 13% or 13,000 lives. This is estimated
to cost the NHS as much as £1 billion per annum . It is generally accepted by the
healthcare profession that the main route for the transmission of NI`s is cross infection via
dirty hands and or dirty gloves

C Diff is most commonly spread on the infected hands of carers, 

healthcare workers, visitors and patients.

Alcohol hand rubs will not prevent cross infection with C Diff, as the 
spores are not killed by alcohol.

(http://www.hygienicsolutionsuk.com/page.asp?id=factpage)
Top 10 Personal hygiene practices for everyone

1. Daily showers or bath and washing hair.

2. Frequently washing hands and face.

3. Daily brushing and flossing teeth, regularly after every meal.

4. Wearing clean clothes and keeping your surroundings clean.

5. Hold a tissue over the mouth when coughing or sneezing, not a bare hand.

6. Suppression of habits such as nose-picking, touching the face etc.

7. Washing hands before eating.

8. Not licking fingers before picking up sheets of paper.

9. Not biting nails

10. Washing hands right after you touch your shoes. 

(http://www.chaimedia.com/list/499.html#Top+10+Personal+hygiene+practices+for+everyone)