It's a lesson that has been instilled in our brains since we learned to go to the bathroom: " Always wash your hands after using the bathroom ." But a YouGov poll from January this year found that 42 percent of people do not consistently lather after going to the toilet at home.
Surely I ask you how much harm not washing your hands can do, since the kitchen has more germs than the bathroom, right? Well, hang on to your pants because you're about to learn the dirty truth.
Could you get sick if you don't wash your hands after using the bathroom?
If you are sitting on the throne of your home, the answer is probably no. Even if you carried a pathogen in your stool, urinary tract, or genital skin that was transferred to your hands while using the bathroom, you should be safe.
You will not get infected because you already have that organism in your system. An exception is Staphylococcus aureus, which some people carry in their intestines. Theoretically, you could contaminate your hands with staph while using the bathroom. If the bacteria get into an open cut or wound, then you could get a staph infection. But that is quite unlikely.
Using a public toilet is a different story. A bath is a harbinger of organisms, as many people come and go, and not all of them wash their hands. It is also a high contact area. You're tapping the doorknob to get in and out, open and close the latch, maybe lower the toilet bowl and push the button. So if you do a squat and then don't lather up, you could be picking up all kinds of germs.
That includes the new coronavirus, which can linger on bathroom surfaces that an infected person has touched, coughed or sneezed (if they weren't wearing a mask). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report that coronavirus can linger on surfaces for days, while other types of pathogens can linger for weeks.
Also, COVID-19 can be in the intestines and can be spread through fecal matter.
When a toilet is flushed, the bubbling, churning water causes fecal matter to spray, creating particles that will float in the air. The water particles from the toilet can spray up to 4 meters , and some of the aerosolized feces settle on the bathroom surfaces that you can then touch with your hands.
The biggest health risk posed by not washing your hands is not the germs in your urine and poop, but the pathogens you've picked up from everything you've touched on the road, whether at home or on the go.
There are two situations where scrubbing is absolutely necessary to protect yourself from contamination. First, you need to wash your hands before eating, drinking, or preparing food. You should also wash them before touching your face; your eyes, ears, nose and mouth are the entry conduits to your body.
Could you make other people sick by not washing after going to the toilet?
Maybe, maybe not. You can literally eat human feces with a spoon without any ill effect as long as there are no pathogens in the content. However, it cannot be guaranteed that it is pathogen free.
Basically, if you don't have harmful viruses or bacteria in your system, you won't spread the infection to others. But there is no way to know for sure what germs you may be harboring.
What if you have disease-causing microorganisms in your intestines or genital area, and some got transferred to your hands while you were in the bathroom? You could then pass them on to someone else across surfaces that you then touch. For the protection of others, you should wash your hands after using the bathroom.
Even if you're home alone, remember that germs can linger for weeks, putting future visitors at risk. Not washing your hands at home will likely have very little effect on you, but it could have a big effect on others.
That said, exposure alone does not mean that illness is inevitable. If an individual touches a contaminated surface, their body may be able to fight infection.
There is an oscillating relationship between man and the microbe as to whether it will become ill when exposed to a pathogen. The normal flora in your intestines is very powerful, competing with any organism you've ingested, and can prevent it from taking hold.
Another factor that determines whether or not someone will get sick is what type of pathogen they come into contact with. Some organisms are more virulent than others. For example, it takes 10,000 salmonella cells to start an infection, while it only takes 100 shigella cells to contract a disease.
By not washing your hands, you are choosing not to protect others. And if we don't take care of ourselves, we will have lost a part of our humanity.
The health of the person also plays a role. Some people have stronger immune systems than others and are better equipped to defend themselves against infection. Older people and immunosuppressed people are more vulnerable.
If someone has a high enough bacterial or viral load to become infected, they can experience anything from mild stomach problems to severe illness, depending on the type of contaminant, the volume of cells they ingested, and their current health.
Norovirus could cause diarrhea and vomiting. Salmonella and shigella can cause systemic and intestinal infections, some of which can be serious, especially in the elderly and immunosuppressed.
Is it worse not washing after pooping than after peeing?
One is no worse than the other. Obviously, your stool can contain organisms of concern such as salmonella, shigella, campylobacter, norovirus, and pathogenic strains of E. coli. But urine is no better.
There may be STDs such as gonorrhea and syphilis in the contents of the genital urinary tract. There are also skin pathogens in the genital area such as candida and staphylococci.
How to wash your hands properly?
We all probably know by now that it's important to scrub with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. Still, even those who practice good hygiene are often not thorough enough.
- Wash your entire hand . Pay special attention to the fingertips, the webs between the fingers, all sides of the thumbs, and the back of the hands. These are the areas that are most commonly overlooked, according to an August 2019 study in the Journal of Environmental and Public Health.
- Clean under nails. Particularly high concentrations of microbes are often found under your nails here, so clean there well. You can do this by lathering your hands and then scratching your nails against the opposite palm.
- Dry your hands with a paper towel. L os germs are more easily transmitted from wet hands. Although there is some conflicting evidence as to whether hand dryers or paper towels are more hygienic. It is recommended that you bring your own paper when using a public restroom, just in case.
- Hang on to the paper towel after rinsing off . Touching a dirty doorknob nullifies your wash, so use your paper to turn off the faucet and open the bathroom door before you leave.
Is it really dangerous not to wash your hands?
It is a serious problem. Addressing handwashing is more relevant than ever in the times of COVID, but it is also important to prevent the spread of small-scale infections, such as colds.
Not washing your hands in a public bathroom puts your health at risk. Sometimes we are our worst enemy. A pandemic is the time to improve our hygiene.
And when it comes to potentially contaminating another person, not washing yourself is disrespectful. You are choosing not to protect others. And if we don't take care of each other, then we have lost a part of our humanity.
In your opinion, it is about more than cleaning; our behavior in the bathroom reflects a spirit of compassion and benevolence for our community. The integrity of our society is affected by the way we handle our personal hygiene. If we don't respect each other by washing our hands, then as a society we fail, all hell breaks loose, and each can do it for himself.
