BACKGROUND Diarrhoea is a common cause of morbidity and a leading cause of death among children aged less than five years, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. It is transmitted by ingesting contaminated food or drink, by direct person-to-person contact, or from contaminated hands. Hand washing is one of a range of hygiene promotion interventions that can interrupt the transmission...

IGnAz SEmmElWEIS – HAnD WASHInG PIonEEr Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis (July 1, 1818 – August 13, 1865) was the Hungarian – Austrian physician who demonstrated that puerperal fever (also known as “childbed fever”) was contagious and that its incidence could be drastically reduced by enforcing appropriate hand washing by medical care-givers. He made this discovery in 1847 while head of the Maternity D...

OBJECTIVE Nosocomial infections are the main problems rising morbidity and mortality in health care settings. Hand hygiene is the most effective method for preventing these infections. In this study, we aimed to investigate the factors related with hand hygiene adherence at a private hospital in Turkey. MATERIALS AND METHODS This study was conducted between March and June 2010 at a private ho...

Improvement of food worker hand washing practices is critical to the reduction of foodborne illness and is dependent upon a clear understanding of current hand washing practices. To that end, this study collected detailed observational data on food worker hand washing practices. Food workers (n = 321) were observed preparing food, and data were recorded on specific work activities for which han...

UNLABELLED Food produced with satisfactory hygienic standards is one of the essential conditions for promoting and preserving health. A total of 15 grocery and dairy shops were randomly selected from Alexandria, Egypt to assess their hand washing facilities and personal hygiene of food handlers using a pre-designed sanitation checklist. Also the bacteriological profile of the handlers' hand was...