DURING the Covid-19 pandemic, hand hygiene was at the forefront of the public health measures and people were advised to take action by frequently washing their hands as a means to reduce the risk of spreading the infection.

Director of Nursing and Infection Control for Cork Kerry Community Healthcare Eleanor McCarthy, who has a wealth of knowledge in the area of infection control, said hand hygiene is key in reducing common infections such as the common cold and the winter vomiting bug.

“Hand hygiene has a place in healthcare, but it also has a place for us at home so we can protect ourselves and our families.

“It’s one of the greatest protections we can have for our health and the health of our families.”

Sharing some facts about hand hygiene, Ms McCarthy said that it is estimated that the average person will touch their face about 23 times per hour.

“Now, we’re in the area of multi-drug resistant bacteria and multi-drug resistant bugs and these are bugs that 20 years ago we would have had an antibiotic that would kill them but now we don’t and the majority of these bugs live in our gut.

“There’s two ways in which we can get these multi-drug resistant bacteria.

“One of them is overuse of antibiotics and not taking a course of antibiotics correctly and the other one is through transmission.

“What transmission means is that you might touch a surface that’s contaminated with these bacteria or in healthcare, a healthcare worker on their hands could bring it to you when they touch you but then those bugs have to get into your gut.

“So, if you touch that surface or that area on your body where these bugs are and we bring our hands to our face 23 times an hour, the likelihood that it’s going to get into our mouth is quite high.

“So the key message is if we touch our face 23 times an hour, to make sure that our hands are clean when we’re touching our face to make sure we don’t get these multi-drug resistant bacteria or any form of bacteria such as the common cold or the winter vomiting bug that we hear about every year and that plays havoc in our healthcare system.”

She said the focus during World Hand Hygiene Day which took place recently was about “getting back to basics”.

Highlighting how easy it is for people to slip back into old habits even following a global health emergency such as Covid-19 when we were consistently washing our hands, she said: “By going back to basics, we’re talking about regular hand hygiene.

“If we remember at the height of the pandemic every shop we went to we were falling over hand hygiene stations and alcohol hand sanitiser and you can’t find it now. It’s hidden away somewhere if it’s there at all.

“And we have seen an increase in respiratory viruses and respiratory illnesses and we all know people whose antigens have been negative but they’ve had sniffles in the last few weeks and months and that’s much more so than it was in previous years.

“The whole ethos is, yes hand hygiene is very important in healthcare but it’s also very important for everybody in the community to keep their hands clean.”

BACTERIA

She said that there are bacteria in our bodies that our bodies need for good health but said that hand washing mitigates the risk of bad bacteria from entering our bodies.

“Bacteria are good. We have an awful lot of good bacteria too.

“Our body has more bacterial cells than we do have human cells so we wouldn’t survive if we didn’t have those healthy bacteria to keep ourselves healthy, particularly our gut.

“Our gut has an enormous number of bacteria and we need those to keep us healthy but we’re talking about bacteria that are on surfaces that we don’t know whether they are multi-drug resistant bacteria or what type of bacteria they are.

“So, we are talking about not investing those and it is very much about going back to basics and having a basic level of hygiene and we don’t want sterile environments because we do need good bacteria but it is about getting the balance right.”

Speaking about how best to protect the vulnerable population in the community who are more susceptible to becoming ill, she said: “In healthcare, whether we’re in an older person facility or whether we’re in an acute hospital, we’re talking about a vulnerable population.

“So, if you’re talking about older people they’re naturally more vulnerable because of their age.

“If you’re in an acute hospital setting those people are more vulnerable because they might have devices such as an IV line or urinary catheter or they have an open wound or they’ve had surgery, or they might be very young or very elderly.

“So, in healthcare you’re looking at a very different level of hand hygiene that we expect from health workers.

“There, we talk about the WHO’s five moments for hand hygiene.

“There’s a lot of technologies now around environmental cleaning also but still the number one factor that has been proven time and time again to reduce the risk of transmission of infection from one person to another is hand hygiene and healthcare workers would have very regular education on hand hygiene and on the importance of hand hygiene in order to stop the spread of infection to our vulnerable population,” she said.

FACTS

HERE Assistant Director of Nursing and Infection Control for Cork Kerry Community Healthcare Eleanor McCarthy shares fun facts about bacteria. How many can you get right?

1. Bacteria have been on the planet for 3.5 billion years. True or false.

2. A bacterium can typically move about 100 times its body length in a second. True or false.

3. Many foods like bread, yoghurt, and cheese, are all made with bacteria. True or false.

4. Your body has more bacterial cells than human cells. True or false.

5. Lined up from end to end, bacteria would stretch here to the edge of the universe. True or false.

6. Bacteria were discovered in 1674. True or false.

7. If you take antibiotics too often, bacteria can become resistant to the antibiotic. True or false.

8. Bacteria can survive in ice, hot springs and radioactive waste, there are very few places that are bacteria-free on this planet. True or false

9. There are an estimated 10 quintillion viruses on Earth. True or false.

How did you do? Check your answers below:

1. Older than any other life form. Bacteria have been on the planet for more than 3.5 billion years old, making them the oldest known life form on Earth (so far).

2. They’re fast. A bacterium can typically move about 100 times its body length in a second. To put that into perspective, a large fish can move only about 10 times its body length at the same time.

3. You eat it. That bread you ate this morning - it’s made with bacteria. Many foods like yogurt, cheese, and miso are all made with bacteria - and don’t forget beer!

4. Most are good. Your body has way more bacterial cells than human cells. We need bacteria to aid digestion and they help defend us against harmful bacteria.

5. They go for light years. Lined up from end to end, bacteria would stretch out around 10 billion light years. That’s the distance from here to the edge of the universe.

6. No one knew bacteria existed until 1674 when Dutch scientist Antonie van Leeuwenhoek spotted them as he was looking at scrapings from the human mouth under a newly invented microscope.

7. They adapt fast. Bacteria adapt quickly, making it hard to find an antibiotic that will work consistently against harmful bacteria. If you take antibiotics too often, bacteria can become resistant to the antibiotic. This means that antibiotics no longer work on the bacteria and can’t help you fight an infection.

8. They’re tough. Different bacteria can survive in a variety of extreme conditions. From ice to hot springs, and even radioactive waste, there are very few places that are bacteria-free on this planet.

9. They’re everywhere. Viruses are the most abundant biological entities on Earth: There are an estimated 10 quintillion viruses on Earth, making them the most abundant form of life on the planet.