Wash Your Hands in the Kitchen and the Bathroom

What surprises me are the number of people who don’t wash their hands before unloading the dishwasher. You just pet your dog or used a door handle or tv remote...think about it.

I am continually amazed by people, men and women alike, who do not understand the importance of hand washing. To make matters worse, they like to taunt those of us who do wash our hands with with phony "Freudian" comments. It is also no surprise to me that hospitals and nursing homes have so much trouble controlling infections. During the time my husband was in the hospital and nursing home I lost track of the number of times I saw nurses, doctors and other personnel fail to use gloves when moving from one room to another. Or they would wear the same gloves while moving from patient to patient. A friend, who is a nurse, agrees with me about the importance of hand washing; especially when handling food. Yet, when we get together in each others homes to share a meal she never washes. She will pick up the cat and play with it, handle objects that are obviously not clean and then, without washing, prepare food. I don't understand the disconnect between what she says and what she does.

When I was a little girl, my mother taught me to use the bathroom without touching anything in the stall and flushing the toilet with my foot. Well, now I'm in my sixties, and I can't balance well enough to do all that. When I can, I avoid using public bathrooms as much as possible. But these articles, which I can't seem to help reading, make me paranoid. When out and about, I was just glad to find a bathroom. I carry lots of tissues and handy wipes in my pocketbook but sometimes the toilets don't have a lid so I get as far away as possible to avoid the plume. Things used to be a lot simpler when I wasn't so "informed".

So...maybe I am being dense, but are the people who carry and transmit the dangerous, antibiotic-resistant strain of E. coli not made ill by it? I'm a little confused. Is the danger primarily to those with compromised immune systems? I am assuming that we are washing our hands not only to protect ourselves, but also to protect others--as we ourselves might be carriers??

I appreciated Nicholas Bakalar's article on hand washing. However, you can wash your hands all you want in public restrooms, but if you then put your clean hands on the door handle to leave, you might as well not have bothered. The trick is to use a paper towel or other clean paper on the handle(s). Then, along with hand washing, you are really protecting yourself.

This adds to the urgency of repairing the problem of homelessness which is tragically rampant in California. For the sake of those who are homeless and do not have access to washing facilities, as well as for neighboring communities who have now sadly become accustomed to finding human waste on and around their propery.

I'm always shocked when I go to someone's home and they don't have soap at the kitchen sink. How do they wash their hands before and during meal prep?

In addition to sanitizing gels and/or disinfectant wipes, carry disposable gloves in your pocket or handbag when going out to eat or drink. Toilet seat covers are not a bad idea, either, if you can find the room. They are very inexpensive and widely available.

A couple of decades ago I found I was getting sick less often after I started washing my hands after going to the bathroom. But I still see guys who can't be bothered to wash after they go. Eeeww!

I recently saw a public bathroom door that dispensed sanitizer out of the handle. I guess the idea is that you’ll use it and then touch the handle with clean hands. I have no idea if that will be effective and widespread.

I remember when my children were young and had friends over at mealtime, none of his friends were used to the practice of washing their hands before eating. I really think this is overlooked when discussing this topic as well as personal hygiene. I always wash my hands before eating at home as well as trained my children to follow this good habit. It's harder to do out at a restaurant because of the need to touch the door to get out of the restroom but a quick use of a hand wipe can usually be done. Yes, you'll get looks from others but looks don't make you sick. There is no way to eliminate exposure to germs and some exposure needs to happen to boost the immune system, but good hygiene habits do help.

In 1957 during a bacteriology lab at my medical school, we had our hands swabbed before washing and then after a 10 minutes scrub with soap and water and a stiff brush. The lack of eliminating the bacteria was astounding!!

A wise doctor once said to me that the most effective method of avoiding disease is to never pass up an opportunity to wash your hands.

We lived in Bahrain for a few years, and one of the interesting things we learned is that children are taught to use their non-dominant hand when toileting. Makes a lot of sense, especially if water is scarce.

While I am no germaphobe I do agree with this article. It's also important to spend a little time in the washing. The recommendation is to sing happy birthday (to yourself unless you want to clear out the bathroom in a hurry) two times in order for the soap to do its job. One other caveat for people who regularly dine at a buffet restaurant: before you grasp the spoon or tongs on the presentation table take a napkin and use that as a buffer between your hands and the instrument. A couple of hundred people have touched those utensils over the course of the evening. . .

Microbes can aerosolize, as well, so be sure to close your toilet seat when you flush.

I'm thinking we should wash our hands before and after going to the bathroom. Who knows what is on your hands as you head in to the bathroom.

Flushing the toilet without putting the lid down---not just the seat---can spray microscopic feces several feet away. In my NYC bathroom, this means the towel rack. Who wants to dry her hands or, worse yet, face with such a towel? Yet this simple precaution is seldom mentioned.

The research findings may seem obvious but is in response to an alarmist set of researchers who stoke fear that most antimicrobial resistant (AMR) infections are coming from food animals (chicken in particular). Hygiene and safe food prep need to be the focus for the general public, not fear-mongering and attacking of animal agriculture. All routes of infection and AMR evolution need to be understood and mitigated.

Keep your hands away from your mouth

My husband just got out of the hospital -- does any hospital incorporate patient handwashing before meals? Yale-New Haven, Mount Sinai in Miami, Westside Regional -- meals are delivered and patients eat them -- usually without washing their hands.

Climbing a public stairs such as going up to a higher subway platform one has to tradeoff the risk of germs vs. risk of falling (esp. among seniors).

And what about public bathrooms whose doors open from the inside and require one to grip the same handle that a non-washer just used? Even worse, at places like McDonald's hand blowers have replaced paper towels so their employees are still getting their hands tainted...

My God, have we really got to the point where we have to tell people to wash their hands after going to the toilet??? It also seems from the other comments that yes we have :-(

I assume most readers are fanatics about hand washing at home. Here’s a tip: Go to the Restroom before ordering anything more than a drink at any Restaurant new to you. Or one that you haven’t visited for awhile, or after a change in ownership/management. If the Restroom(s) are dirty, be assured the Kitchen is filthy. Lack of soap/hand washing detergent, paper towels or air dryers, AND actual running water is a big clue to LEAVE. Just do it.

Wondering if there is regulations about water TEMPERATURE on bathroom/ dining room faucets in public places. have visited department stores, retail facilities, hospitals, cruise ships, restaurants.... and found water temperature set too high. i was teaching my 1 1/2 year old granddaughter to wash hands properly ( singing ABC + Happy Birthday songs) on a cruise ship, but water was so hot, even I couldn't do it, and had to use Perils instead, before entering dining hall. isn't that beating the purpose ? i had written to CDC and got a polite letter letting me know they had referred the matter to "appropriate" department, but no answer.

You would be surprised as to how many people do not wash their hands after going to the bathroom. Just go use the bathroom at one of the airports, I have seen so many women not washing their hands as I stood in line waiting my turn for the next stall. I don't know what goes on in the men's bathroom. Washing your hands stops the spread of all the bad things no one wants to get. So as I wash my hands every time I use the bathroom and at times with my granddaughter who is in the potty training stage, I lead by example. We even sing songs, like Happy Birthday, washing in between our fingers, on top and bottoms of our hands and rinsing well. Always wash your hands, your life is in your hands.

I’ve always wondered about those bathroom signs that say: “Employees must wash their hands” The signs should add: “and everyone should wash their hands to avoid the spread of E. coli and because it’s disgusting if you don’t!”

Over the years of using men's public restrooms, i think about 1 in every 4 men don't wash their hands after using the urinal. I suppose they think their junk is sterile and no threat to others. I've also spoken to several women about this and they have said women are worse, most don't ever wash their hands and the scary thing is, who knows what type of relief they were performing!! This , no doubt to me, starts at home with basic sanitary training and reinforcement at home from childhood thru adolescence. Some basic common sense too, but the again basic common sense really doesn't exist considering who was elected president of this country.

Duh.