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Hand washing is cleaning your hands with water and soap or other special chemical liquid, to take off dirt, germs, and poisons. Germs and poisons cause disease and other health problems. Germs are bacteria, viruses, funguses. Some new diseases are not stopped by antibiotic drugs. Hand washing stops much new disease. Not washing hands before you cook or touch food is risky.
When hands are washed
Always wash your hands:
- After you use the toilet or W.C.
- Before and after you touch or help a sick person
- Before you make or cook food
- After you touch uncooked meat, fish, or poultry (bird meat). Some uncooked foods carry diseases.
- Before you eat so you don't eat germs
Washing hands
Use soap and warm (running, if available) water. Wet hands and add soap. Rub wet hands strongly with soap outside running water more than 10 seconds. Rub all parts of your hands again and again. Clean all dirt under fingernails. Then rub hands under running water again and again to take off all soap. Dry hands using a clean cloth or paper. Use moisturizing lotion so hands do not dry if you wash hands many times every day.
Parents
- Train your boy or girl to wash their hands every time before eating and after using toilet or W.C.
- Wash your hands after you take off dirty pants or diapers from a baby.
- Request medical workers, doctors, and nurses to wash their hands before touching your boy or girl.
Medical hand washing
If you are a medical worker, doctor, or nurse, not washing hands before touching every new person is dangerous. Use more than enough soap and water and rub each part of your hands again and again. Rub between each finger. Use a brush and clean under fingernails. Use more water to take off the soap and dry hands paper towel.
To scrub your hands for a surgery, you need water you can turn on and off without touching with your hands, a cleaning liquid named "chlorhexidine" or "iodine wash", sterile cloth for drying your hands after washing, a sterile brush for hard washing and another sterile instrument for cleaning under your fingernails. Take off all watches, rings, and other jewels from your hands before washing. Wash your hands and arms to the elbows again and again. Be strong and serious about the washing. Use running water again and again to take off all soap. Keep hands up so water does not go from arms to hands. Dry your hands with the sterile cloth and put on surgical shirt or dress. Sterile means no things on it that make disease.
See also
"Hand washing"