Cited by 169History of Science and MedicineHistory of Emotions ResearchHistory of Medicine and Tropical Health

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 43 of the 44 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Dirt, disgust and disease: a natural history of hygiene

Open access

Curtis, Valerie A·2007·Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health

DOI 10.1136/jech.2007.062380PMC PMC2652987

Open this paper in CoChat — free account

Abstract

Hygiene has been studied from multiple perspectives, including that of history. I define hygiene as the set of behaviours that animals, including humans, use to avoid infection. I argue that it has an ancient evolutionary history, and that most animals exhibit such behaviours because they were adaptive. In humans, the avoidance of infectious threats is motivated by the emotion of disgust. Intuition about hygiene, dirt and disease can be found underlying belief about health and disease throughout history. Purification ritual, miasma, contagion, zymotic and germ theories of disease are ideas that spread through society because they are intuitively attractive, because they are supported by evidence either from direct experience or from authoritative report and because they are consistent with existing beliefs. In contrast to much historical and anthropological assertion, I argue that hygiene behaviour and disgust predate culture and so cannot fully be explained as its product. The history of ideas about disease thus is neither entirely socially constructed nor an “heroic progress” of scientists leading the ignorant into the light. As an animal behaviour the proper domain of hygiene is biology, and without this perspective attempts at explanation are incomplete. The approaches of biological anthropology have much to offer the practice of cultural history.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1136/jech.2007.062380

Cites

43 of 43 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Purity and Danger: An Analysis of Concepts of Pollution and Taboo
McCormack, W., & Douglas, M. (1967) · Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion · doi:10.2307/1384077 · Cited by 5,738
Purity and Danger: An Analysis of Concepts of Pollution and Taboo.
Ardener, E., & Douglas, M. (1967) · Man · doi:10.2307/2798681 · Cited by 2,824
The blank slate: the modern denial of human nature
(2003) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.40-4305 · Cited by 2,452
Intuitive ethics: how innately prepared intuitions generate culturally variable virtues
Haidt, J., & Joseph, C. (2004) · Daedalus · doi:10.1162/0011526042365555 · Cited by 2,079
Explaining Culture: A Naturalistic Approach.
Barkow, J. H., & Sperber, D. (1998) · Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute · doi:10.2307/3034541 · Cited by 1,805
Plagues and People
McNeill, W. H. (1977) · Health Care Management Review · doi:10.1097/00004010-197700220-00022 · Cited by 1,713
Guns, Germs, and Steel
Diamond, J. M. (1997) · Dominican Scholar (Dominican University of California) · Cited by 1,409
Competing interests: none declared.
Hirsch, L. (2006) · Cited by 1,396
The Anatomy of Disgust
Miller, W. I. (1997) · Harvard University Press eBooks · doi:10.2307/j.ctv26071fj · Cited by 1,267
A History of Public Health
Rosen, G. (1958) · MD Publications eBooks · doi:10.1037/11322-000 · Cited by 1,235

Flagged first, then by citations

Show all 44 references

1 of the 44 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 12

1997, J Hist Med, 52, 7
Hölldobbler B, Wilson EO. The ants. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1990.
1983, Am Bee J, 123, 511
2003, Wildlife Soc Bull, 31, 117
1971, Nature, 5321, 538
Burkert W. Greek religion. Oxford: Blackwell, 1985.
Aunger R. The Electric meme. New York: The Free Press, 2002.
Parker R. Miasma: pollution and purity in early Greek religion. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1983.
Hippocrates. Hippocratic writings. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1983.
1985, Victorian Stud, 28, 381
1997, J Hist Med, 52, 114
1994, Cahiers Santé, 4, 335

Sorted by citations

Disgust as a disease-avoidance mechanism.
Oaten, M., Stevenson, R. J., & Case, T. I. (2009) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/a0014823 · Cited by 1,120
Disgust as an adaptive system for disease avoidance behaviour
Curtis, V., de Barra, M., & Aunger, R. (2011) · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rstb.2010.0117 · Cited by 746
Self-citation
Parasite-stress promotes in-group assortative sociality: The cases of strong family ties and heightened religiosity
Fincher, C. L., & Thornhill, R. (2012) · Behavioral and Brain Sciences · doi:10.1017/s0140525x11000021 · Cited by 530
Planned, motivated and habitual hygiene behaviour: an eleven country review
Curtis, V. A., Danquah, L. O., & Aunger, R. V. (2009) · Health Education Research · doi:10.1093/her/cyp002 · Cited by 482
Self-citation
Infection-avoidance behaviour in humans and other animals
Curtis, V. A. (2014) · Trends in Immunology · doi:10.1016/j.it.2014.08.006 · Cited by 322
Self-citation
Human Emotions: An Evolutionary Psychological Perspective
Al-Shawaf, L., Conroy‐Beam, D., Asao, K., & Buss, D. M. (2015) · Emotion Review · doi:10.1177/1754073914565518 · Cited by 313
Stand out of our Light: Freedom and Resistance in the Attention Economy
Williams, J. (2018) · doi:10.1017/9781108453004 · Cited by 303
The Behavioral Immune System
Murray, D. R., & Schaller, M. (2016) · Advances in Experimental Social Psychology · doi:10.1016/bs.aesp.2015.09.002 · Cited by 282
Parasite stress and pathogen avoidance relate to distinct dimensions of political ideology across 30 nations
Tybur, J. M., Inbar, Y., Aarøe, L., Barclay, P., Barlow, F. K., de Barra, M., Becker, D. V., Borovoi, L., Choi, I., Choi, J. A., et al. (2016) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1607398113 · Cited by 250
Disease avoidance as a functional basis for stigmatization
Oaten, M., Stevenson, R. J., & Case, T. I. (2011) · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rstb.2011.0095 · Cited by 219
Ecological and Evolutionary Consequences of Parasite Avoidance
Buck, J. C., Weinstein, S. B., & Young, H. S. (2018) · Trends in Ecology & Evolution · doi:10.1016/j.tree.2018.05.001 · Cited by 204
Analogies in the evolution of individual and social immunity
Cremer, S., & Sixt, M. (2009) · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rstb.2008.0166 · Cited by 175
Why is there plastic packaging in the natural environment? Understanding the roots of our individual plastic waste management behaviours
Kedzierski, M., Frère, D., Maguer, G. L., & Bruzaud, S. (2020) · The Science of The Total Environment · doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.139985 · Cited by 202
The Parasite-Stress Theory of Values and Sociality
Thornhill, R., & Fincher, C. L. (2014) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-08040-6 · Cited by 187
Why disgust matters
Curtis, V. A. (2011) · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rstb.2011.0165 · Cited by 190
Self-citation
Cognitive attraction and online misinformation
Acerbi, A. (2019) · Palgrave Communications · doi:10.1057/s41599-019-0224-y · Cited by 161
Stand Out of Our Light: Freedom and Resistance in the Attention Economy
Williams, J. (2018) · Cited by 151
Human pathogen avoidance adaptations
Tybur, J. M., & Lieberman, D. (2015) · Current Opinion in Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.copsyc.2015.06.005 · Cited by 147
Corpses, Maggots, Poodles and Rats: Emotional Selection Operating in Three Phases of Cultural Transmission of Urban Legends
Eriksson, K., & Coultas, J. C. (2014) · Journal of Cognition and Culture · doi:10.1163/15685373-12342107 · Cited by 138
Three kinds of psychological determinants for hand-washing behaviour in Kenya
Aunger, R., Schmidt, W.-P., Ranpura, A., Coombes, Y., Maina, P. M., Matiko, C. N., & Curtis, V. (2010) · Social Science & Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2009.10.038 · Cited by 122
Self-citation
Evolution of pathogen and parasite avoidance behaviours
Sarabian, C., Curtis, V., & McMullan, R. (2018) · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rstb.2017.0256 · Cited by 111
Self-citation
The Behavioral Immune System
Schaller, M. (2015) · Wiley eBooks · doi:10.1002/9781119125563.evpsych107 · Cited by 103
THE ROLE OF MICROBIOTA IN DEPRESSION - A BRIEF REVIEW
Zalar, B., Haslberger, A., & Peterlin, B. (2018) · Psychiatria Danubina · doi:10.24869/psyd.2018.136 · Cited by 94
Disgust Talked About
Strohminger, N. (2014) · Philosophy Compass · doi:10.1111/phc3.12137 · Cited by 89
Periodontal health through public health – the case for oral health promotion
Watt, R. G., & Petersen, P. E. (2012) · Periodontology 2000 · doi:10.1111/j.1600-0757.2011.00426.x · Cited by 77
Keeping the vermin out: Perceived disease threat and ideological orientations as predictors of exclusionary immigration attitudes
Green, E. G. T., Krings, F., Staerklé, C., Bangerter, A., Clémence, A., Wagner‐Egger, P., & Bornand, T. (2010) · Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology · doi:10.1002/casp.1037 · Cited by 77
The Role for Signaling Theory and Receiver Psychology in Marketing
Dunham, B. (2011) · Evolutionary Psychology in the Business Sciences · doi:10.1007/978-3-540-92784-6_9 · Cited by 74
Infection prevention as “a show”: A qualitative study of nurses’ infection prevention behaviours
Jackson, C., Lowton, K., & Griffiths, P. (2013) · International Journal of Nursing Studies · doi:10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2013.07.002 · Cited by 68
Hygienic tendencies correlate with low geohelminth infection in free-ranging macaques
Sarabian, C., & MacIntosh, A. J. J. (2015) · Biology Letters · doi:10.1098/rsbl.2015.0757 · Cited by 61
Can we measure beauty? Computational evaluation of coral reef aesthetics
Haas, A. F., Guibert, M., Foerschner, A., Co, T., Calhoun, S. K., George, E. E., Hatay, M., Dinsdale, E. A., Sandin, S. A., Smith, J. E., et al. (2015) · PeerJ · doi:10.7717/peerj.1390 · Cited by 51
Danger Appraisals as Prospective Predictors of Disgust and Avoidance of Contaminants
Dorfan, N. M., & Woody, S. R. (2011) · Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1521/jscp.2011.30.2.105 · Cited by 47
Physiological and behavioral responses to strangers compared to friends as a source of disgust
Peng, M., Chang, L., & Zhou, R. (2012) · Evolution and Human Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2012.10.002 · Cited by 48
The Insectan Apes
Crespi, B. J. (2013) · Human Nature · doi:10.1007/s12110-013-9185-9 · Cited by 45
Evaluation of an Australian indigenous housing programme: community level impact on crowding, infrastructure function and hygiene
Bailie, R. S., McDonald, E. L., Stevens, M., Guthridge, S. L., & Brewster, D. (2010) · Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health · doi:10.1136/jech.2009.091637 · Cited by 43
Towards a low CO2 emission building material employing bacterial metabolism (2/2): Prospects for global warming potential reduction in the concrete industry
Myhr, A., Røyne, F., Brandtsegg, A. S., Bjerkseter, C., Throne‐Holst, H., Borch, A., Wentzel, A., & Røyne, A. (2019) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0208643 · Cited by 41
Determinants of households' cleaning intention for shared toilets: Case of 50 slums in Kampala, Uganda
Tumwebaze, I. K., Niwagaba, C. B., Günther, I., & Mosler, H.-J. (2014) · Habitat International · doi:10.1016/j.habitatint.2013.07.008 · Cited by 37
Dirt and disgust as key drivers in nurses' infection control behaviours: an interpretative, qualitative study
Jackson, C., & Griffiths, P. (2014) · Journal of Hospital Infection · doi:10.1016/j.jhin.2014.04.001 · Cited by 37
Understanding the patient experience of health care–associated infection: A qualitative systematic review
Currie, K., Melone, L., Stewart, S., King, C., Holopainen, A., Clark, A. M., & Reilly, J. (2018) · American Journal of Infection Control · doi:10.1016/j.ajic.2017.11.023 · Cited by 34
Cyber Hygiene: The Big Picture
Maennel, K., Mäses, S., & Maennel, O. (2018) · Lecture Notes in Computer Science · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-03638-6_18 · Cited by 43
Toileting Behaviors Related to Urination in Women: A Scoping Review
Wu, C., Xue, K., & Palmer, M. H. (2019) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph16204000 · Cited by 31
Is using a latrine “a strange thing to do?” a mixed-methods study of sanitation preference and behaviors in rural Ethiopia
Aiemjoy, K., Stoller, N. E., Gebresillasie, S., Shiferaw, A., Tadesse, Z., Sewent, T., Ayele, B., Chanyalew, M., Aragie, S., Callahan, K., et al. (2017) · The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene · doi:10.4269/ajtmh.16-0541 · Cited by 30
Life stages and risk-avoidance: Status- and context-sensitivity in precaution systems
Liénard, P. (2010) · Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2010.09.007 · Cited by 32
Winds and tigers: metaphor choice in China’s anti-corruption discourse
Jing-Schmidt, Z., & Peng, X. (2017) · Lingua Sinica · doi:10.1186/s40655-016-0017-9 · Cited by 29
Relationship between general hygiene behaviours and oral hygiene behaviours in Iranian adolescents
Dorri, M., Sheiham, A., & Watt, R. G. (2009) · European Journal Of Oral Sciences · doi:10.1111/j.1600-0722.2009.00657.x · Cited by 29
Community engagement in the management of biosolids: Lessons from four New Zealand studies
Goven, J., Langer, E. R., Baker, V., Ataria, J. M., & Leckie, A. (2012) · Journal of Environmental Management · doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2012.02.007 · Cited by 27
The Parasite-Stress Theory of Sociality and the Behavioral Immune System
Thornhill, R., & Fincher, C. L. (2015) · Evolutionary psychology · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-12697-5_32 · Cited by 27
The experience of disgust by healthcare professionals: A literature review
Hadjittofi, M., Gleeson, K., & Arber, A. (2020) · International Journal of Nursing Studies · doi:10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2020.103720 · Cited by 26
Towards Understanding the Food Consumer Behavior–Food Safety–Sustainability Triangle: A Bibliometric Approach
Lakner, Z., Unger-Plasek, B., Kasza, G., Kiss, A., Soós, S., & Temesi, Á. (2021) · Sustainability · doi:10.3390/su132112218 · Cited by 27
Illness Labels and Social Distance
Kroska, A., Harkness, S. K., Thomas, L. S., & Brown, R. P. (2014) · Society and Mental Health · doi:10.1177/2156869314521431 · Cited by 24
Homosexuality and Pro-Gay Ideology as Pathogens? Implications of a Disease-Spread Lay Model for Understanding Anti-Gay Behaviors
Filip‐Crawford, G., & Neuberg, S. L. (2015) · Personality and Social Psychology Review · doi:10.1177/1088868315601613 · Cited by 28
Sick in the Head? Pathogen Concerns Bias Implicit Perceptions of Mental Illness
Lund, E. M., & Boggero, I. A. (2014) · Evolutionary Psychology · doi:10.1177/147470491401200403 · Cited by 23
Fostering reflective trust between mothers and community health nurses to improve the effectiveness of health and nutrition efforts: An ethnographic study in Ghana, West Africa
Ackatia-Armah, N. M., Addy, N. A., Ghosh, S. A., & Dubé, L. (2016) · Social Science & Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2016.03.038 · Cited by 21
Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Interventions in the Pacific: Defining, Assessing and Improving ‘Sustainability’
Clarke, M., Feeny, S., & Donnelly, J. (2014) · European Journal of Development Research · doi:10.1057/ejdr.2013.67 · Cited by 18
Design, delivery, and determinants of uptake: findings from a food hygiene behavior change intervention in rural Bangladesh
Sobhan, S., Müller‐Hauser, A. A., Huda, T. M. N., Waid, J. L., Gautam, O. P., Gon, G., Wendt, A. S., & Gabrysch, S. (2022) · BMC Public Health · doi:10.1186/s12889-022-13124-w · Cited by 18
A relational approach to mortuary practices within Medieval Byzantine Anatolia
Moore, S. V. (2013) · Cited by 17
Action towards healthy living--for all
Morris, J., Deeming, C., Wilkinson, P., & Dangour, A. D. (2010) · International Journal of Epidemiology · doi:10.1093/ije/dyp403 · Cited by 16
Archaeology without antiquity
Nativ, A., & Lucas, G. (2020) · Antiquity · doi:10.15184/aqy.2020.90 · Cited by 16
Uncertainty and Emotion in the 1900 Sydney Plague
Barr, P. N. (2024) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108908061 · Cited by 14
Ecological Sanitation and Sustainable Nutrient Recovery Education: Considering the Three Fixes for Environmental Problem-Solving
Junghanns, J., & Beery, T. H. (2020) · Sustainability · doi:10.3390/su12093587 · Cited by 13
Climbing the Intervention Ladder to handwashing compliance: A review and directions for future research
Clark, J. A., Crandall, P. G., & O’Bryan, C. A. (2017) · Food Control · doi:10.1016/j.foodcont.2017.09.009 · Cited by 13
Disgusting Bodies, Disgusting Religion: The Biology of Tantra
Ellis, T. B. (2011) · Journal of the American Academy of Religion · doi:10.1093/jaarel/lfr077 · Cited by 13
Emotional relevance and prejudice: testing the differentiated effect of incidental disgust on prejudice towards ethnic minorities
Pascal, E. A., Holman, A. C., & Miluț, F. M. (2023) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1177263 · Cited by 11
The Parasite-Stress Theory of Values
Thornhill, R., & Fincher, C. L. (2014) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-08040-6_3 · Cited by 12
Boundary Work and Boundary Objects: Synthesizing Two Concepts for Moments of Controversy
Houf, J. R. (2020) · Journal of Technical Writing and Communication · doi:10.1177/0047281620947355 · Cited by 10
The behavioral immune system and use of transportation services during the COVID-19 pandemic
Sevi, B., & Shook, N. J. (2022) · Journal of Transport & Health · doi:10.1016/j.jth.2022.101406 · Cited by 10
From pelvic radiation to social isolation: a qualitative study of survivors’ experiences of chronic bowel symptoms after pelvic radiotherapy
Biran, A., Dobson, C., Rees, C. J., Pearson, R., Cunliffe, A., Durrant, L., Hancock, J., Ludlow, H., Neilson, L. J., Wilson, A. R. M., et al. (2024) · Journal of Cancer Survivorship · doi:10.1007/s11764-023-01527-6 · Cited by 10
The Evolution of Disgust, Pathogens, and the Behavioural Immune System
Bradshaw, H. K., & Gassen, J. (2021) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-84486-8_3 · Cited by 10
THE EFFECTS OF PARASITES ON HUMAN BEHAVIOUR: AN EVOLUTIONARY PERSPECTIVE
Prokop, P., & Fedor, P. (2013) · Problems of Psychology in the 21st Century · doi:10.33225/ppc/13.05.46 · Cited by 11
U.S. active-duty service women's urogenital health and operational readiness through the lens of the IBM-WASH model: A systematic integrative review
Kostas-Polston, E. A., Buechel, J. J., Ryan‐Wenger, N. A., & Remesz-Guerrette, J. (2022) · Applied Nursing Research · doi:10.1016/j.apnr.2022.151620 · Cited by 9
Early Thule Winter Houses: An Archaeoentomological Analysis
Dussault, F., Bain, A., & LeMoine, G. M. (2014) · Arctic Anthropology · doi:10.3368/aa.51.1.101 · Cited by 9
A produção política da repulsa e os manejos da diversidade na saúde indígena brasileira
Teixeira, C. C. (2013) · Revista de Antropologia · doi:10.11606/2179-0892.ra.2012.59296 · Cited by 9
Towards understanding the water and sanitation hygiene beliefs and practices of the Twa of south-west Uganda
Massie, A. M. A., & Webster, J. (2013) · Waterlines · doi:10.3362/1756-3488.2013.002 · Cited by 9
Epidemiological transitions in human evolution and the richness of viruses, helminths, and protozoa
Amoroso, C. R., & Nunn, C. L. (2021) · Evolution Medicine and Public Health · doi:10.1093/emph/eoab009 · Cited by 8
Hostile emotions and close relationships: Anger can be related to constructive responses
Karppinen, H., King, O., & Russell, P. S. (2023) · Personality and Individual Differences · doi:10.1016/j.paid.2023.112258 · Cited by 9
Defensive Symbioses in Social Insects Can Inform Human Health and Agriculture
Bratburd, J. R., Arango, R. A., & Horn, H. A. (2020) · Frontiers in Microbiology · doi:10.3389/fmicb.2020.00076 · Cited by 8
Disgust and Eating Behavior
Hartmann, C., & Siegrist, M. (2020) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-14504-0_31 · Cited by 8
It’s not you, it’s me – disgust sensitivity towards body odor in deaf and blind individuals
Stefańczyk, M., & Oleszkiewicz, A. (2020) · Attention Perception & Psychophysics · doi:10.3758/s13414-020-02075-2 · Cited by 8
The Biological Weapons Taboo
Bentley, M. (2023) · doi:10.1093/oso/9780198892151.001.0001 · Cited by 7
Corps propre et corps sale chez les Romains, remarques historiographiques
Blonski, M. (2015) · Dialogues d histoire ancienne · doi:10.3917/dha.hs014.0053 · Cited by 7
The Effects of Item Dirtiness on Disposal Decisions
Donnelly, G. E., Blanco, C., Spanbauer, C., & Stienecker, S. L. (2023) · Journal of the Association for Consumer Research · doi:10.1086/724998 · Cited by 7
Disgust as Heuristic
Fischer, R. W. (2015) · Ethical Theory and Moral Practice · doi:10.1007/s10677-015-9673-6 · Cited by 7
Disgust and Consumer Behaviour
Powell, P. A. (2021) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-84486-8_15 · Cited by 6
Six “red flags” in relationships: From being dangerous to gross and being apathetic to unmotivated
Csajbók, Z., White, K. P., & Jonason, P. K. (2022) · Personality and Individual Differences · doi:10.1016/j.paid.2022.112048 · Cited by 6
EvokedPūjā: The Behavioral Ecology of an Equatorial Ritual
Ellis, T. B. (2015) · Journal of the American Academy of Religion · doi:10.1093/jaarel/lfv035 · Cited by 5
Contamination Sensitivity Among Children and Adults in Rural Uganda
Gauvain, M., & McLaughlin, H. (2016) · International Perspectives in Psychology · doi:10.1037/ipp0000056 · Cited by 5
Hand decontamination in clinical practice: a review of the evidence
Rigby, R., Pegram, A. M., & Woodward, S. (2017) · British Journal of Nursing · doi:10.12968/bjon.2017.26.8.448 · Cited by 5
Hand hygiene: Sounds easy, but not when it comes to implementation
Kilpatrick, C., Bourqui, L., Peters, A., Guitart, C., Allegranzi, B., & Pittet, D. (2019) · Journal of Infection and Public Health · doi:10.1016/j.jiph.2019.04.008 · Cited by 5
A Case for Buried Culture: From an Unknown Known to a Known Unknown
Nativ, A. (2022) · Humans · doi:10.3390/humans2030006 · Cited by 4
Faecal microbiota transplants: towards a healthy disgust scepticism
Houf, J. R. (2021) · Medical Humanities · doi:10.1136/medhum-2020-012135 · Cited by 4
Minding the pandemic
Svensson, J. (2021) · Approaching Religion · doi:10.30664/ar.107742 · Cited by 6
Avian surfactant protein (SP)-A2 first arose in an early tetrapod before the divergence of amphibians and gradually lost the collagen domain
Kunchala, S. R., van Dijk, A. I. J. M., Veldhuizen, E. J. A., Donnellan, S. C., Haagsman, H. P., & Orgeig, S. (2022) · Developmental & Comparative Immunology · doi:10.1016/j.dci.2022.104582 · Cited by 4
Decay, dirt and backwardness: interpretations of the socialist heritage in Hungary by first and later generation Australian-Hungarians
Andits, P. (2020) · International Journal of Culture Tourism and Hospitality Research · doi:10.1108/ijcthr-10-2019-0181 · Cited by 4
Connecting biological concepts and religious behavior
Beit‐Hallahmi, B. (2012) · Behavioral and Brain Sciences · doi:10.1017/s0140525x11000938 · Cited by 4
Evidence from hunter-gatherer and subsistence agricultural populations for the universality of contagion sensitivityPreprint
Apicella, C. L., Rozin, P. N., Busch, J. T. A., Watson‐Jones, R. E., & Legare, C. H. (2018) · PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints) · doi:10.31234/osf.io/mcjzn · Cited by 5
Being Vigilant about Sacred Cows: On Belief and Violence in India
Natrajan, B. (2024) · Current Anthropology · doi:10.1086/733267 · Cited by 3
The Parasite-Stress Theory of Cultural Values and Sociality
Thornhill, R., & Fincher, C. L. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108131797.015 · Cited by 4
Health hazard allowance for Nursing professionals: A reflective analysis under the principle of human dignity
Ezaias, R. D. C., Marziale, M. H. P., & Cardoso, J. A. (2021) · Revista Latino-Americana de Enfermagem · doi:10.1590/1518-8345.5397.3498 · Cited by 3
Heightened scrutiny: The unequal impact of online hygiene scores on restaurant reviews
Yu, C., & Margolin, D. (2022) · New Media & Society · doi:10.1177/14614448221127674 · Cited by 3
Budaya Bertoilet: Duduk atau Jongkok?
Martosenjoyo, T. (2016) · ETNOSIA Jurnal Etnografi Indonesia · doi:10.31947/etnosia.v1i1.995 · Cited by 3
Healer, Scholar, Conspirator. The Jewish Physician in the Arabic-Islamic Discourse of the Mamluk Period
Lewicka, P. B. (2017) · V&R unipress eBooks · doi:10.14220/9783737007924.121 · Cited by 3

Authors: Curtis, V. A.
Venue: Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health
Publisher: BMJ
Published: 2007-07-13
Volume: 61
Issue: 8
Pages: 660-664
ISSN: 0141-7681 (ISSN-L)
0143-005X
1470-2738
DOI: 10.1136/jech.2007.062380
PMC: PMC2652987
OpenAlex: W2010209884
Cited by: 169
References: 44
Citations by year: 2026: 7 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 17 · 2022: 20 · 2021: 10 · 2020: 13 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 11 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 7 · 2015: 14 · 2014: 14 · 2013: 13 · 2012: 6
FWCI: 2.19
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: green
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Locations: Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health (publishedVersion)
PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders: Unilever
Topics: Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History and Philosophy of Science › History of Science and Medicine
Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History › History of Emotions Research
Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History › History of Medicine and Tropical Health
Keywords: hygiene, disgust, dirt, disease, infection avoidance, animal behavior, germ theory, miasma theory, contagion theory, purification rituals, history of medicine, cultural history, physical anthropology, social construction of illness
MeSH terms: Animals, Attitude to Health, Behavior, Animal, Culture, Emotions, Humans, Hygiene, Parasitology, Public Health, Health Behavior

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review

Dirt, disgust and disease: a natural history of hygiene

Abstract

Overview

Integrity signals

Verification

Claims the paper makes

Claims other papers make about this one

Self-check

Citations

Cites

Cited by

Related

Metadata

Record

About these checks