Fast Facts About Washing Your Hands

Interesting Facts About Washing Your Hands

While most of us know that washing your hands will help to prevent the spread of illness-causing germs and bacteria, keeping your hands clean may be more helpful than you think. The experts and Parrish Healthcare are here to give you the facts about the benefits of practicing good hygiene habits.

Washing Your Hands Prevents the Spread of Disease

Many diseases are spread from commonly used surfaces to your hands. When you forget to wash your hands, you may touch your eyes, nose, or mouth, infecting yourself with various germs that can get you sick. It is estimated that if everyone washed their hands, it could have the following benefits:

• Prevent up to one million deaths each year.
• Prevent a large percentage of foodborne disease outbreaks.
• Reduce the risk of respiratory illness by up to 16%.

Proper Hand Washing Techniques Help to Protect Young Children

According to the CDC, about 1.8 million children under the age of five around the world die each year due to diarrheal diseases and pneumonia. Utilizing proper hand washing techniques can help to alleviate these issues in the following ways:

• Reduce diarrheal disease-associated deaths by up to 50%.
• Protect 1 in 5 children from respiratory illness.
• Protect 1 in 3 children from getting sick with diarrhea.
• Reduce 29-57% of sickness-related school absences for elementary school-aged children.

Good Hand-Hygiene Helps to Prevent Antibiotic Resistance

When people get sick with respiratory and diarrheal illnesses, it is common for antibiotics to be prescribed for these conditions when they aren’t needed. It is also common for people to stop taking their prescriptions once they start to feel better, rather than finishing them—causing germs to mutate and become resistant to those drugs.

Actively washing your hands can reduce the risk of getting sick in the first place, you reduce the overuse of antibiotics and the chances for viral mutations! This also helps to protect you from germs that have already mutated, which would be harder to treat.

Primary Care in Titusville

When it comes to supporting your health, it is important to find a family care doctor you can trust. The family doctors at Parrish Medical Group Family Medicine treat patients throughout all stages of your life, providing you with the insight, resources, and preventative care you need to live happily and healthily.

Whether you’re in need of a regular check-up or you have a health concern, contact Parrish Medical Group Family Medicine at 321-268-6111 to schedule your next visit.