Dirty hands: bacteria of faecal origin on commuters' hands
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SUMMARY: Although many studies have investigated bacteria on the hands of health-care workers and caregivers, few have looked at microbiological contamination on the hands of the general adult public. This study investigated faecal bacteria on the hands of commuters in five UK cities. Of the 404 people sampled 28% were found to have bacteria of faecal origin on their hands. A breakdown by city showed that the proportion of people with contaminated hands increased the further north the city of investigation (P<0·001), an effect which was due in large part to a significant trend in men but not in women. Bus users were more contaminated than train users. The results of this exploratory study indicate that hand hygiene practices in the UK may be inadequate and that faecal indicator bacteria on hands may be used to monitor the effect of hand-washing promotion campaigns.
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A survey by Judah and co-workers reported that 28% of commuters in five UK cities had bacteria of faecal origin on their hands.
“A survey by Judah and co-workers64 reported that 28% of commuters in five UK cities had bacteria of faecal origin on their hands.”
From Hygiene: new hopes, new horizons (2011) · cites this paper as [64]
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- Authors
- JUDAH, G., DONACHIE, P., COBB, E., SCHMIDT, W., HOLLAND, M., & CURTIS, V.
- Affiliations
- London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (GB)
- Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust (GB)
- Corresponding author
- JUDAH, G.
- Venue
- Epidemiology and Infection
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press (CUP)
- Published
- 2009-09-02
- Volume
- 138
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 409-414
- ISSN
- 0950-2688 (ISSN-L)
- 1469-4409
- OpenAlex
- W2157348433
- Semantic Scholar
- be1ddb4b5c2fddde9496469b1896db2a45627b03
- Cited by
- 39
- References
- 16
- Citations by year
- 2024: 1 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 2 · 2014: 5 · 2013: 1 · 2012: 5
- FWCI
- 3.78
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Epidemiology and Infection (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- LSHTM Research Online (London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine) (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- Unilever
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Water Science and Technology › Fecal contamination and water quality
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Infectious Diseases › Infection Control in Healthcare
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Food Science › Food Safety and Hygiene
- Keywords
- fecal indicator bacteria, hand contamination, hand hygiene, commuters, urban geography, sex differences, hand hygiene monitoring
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Bacteria, Bacteriological Techniques, Feces, Female, United Kingdom, Hand, Hand Disinfection, Humans, Male, Skin
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