Monday, September 15, 2003
Another US airport travel
hazard – dirty hands
American Society for Microbiology survey reveals that as
many as 30 percent of travelers don’t wash hands after using public restrooms at
airports
Press Release
CHICAGO - Does it take an outbreak of a
frightening, potentially fatal infectious disease like severe acute respiratory
syndrome (SARS) or a gastrointestinal illness on a cruise ship to get people to
follow Mom's advice to "wash your hands after using the bathroom?" Apparently,
it may.
Results of a new survey announced today at the 43rd Annual
Interscience Conference of Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC) show
that many people still aren't washing their hands in public places, exposing
others to the risk of infection, despite recent outbreaks of infectious
diseases.
Although illnesses as deadly as SARS and as troublesome as the
common cold or gastric distress can be spread hand-to-hand, the survey sponsored
by the American Society of Microbiology (ASM) found that many people passing
through major US airports don't wash their hands after using the public
facilities. More than 30 percent of people using restrooms in New York airports,
19 percent of those in Miami's airport, and 27 percent of air travelers in
Chicago aren't stopping to wash their hands. The survey, conducted by Wirthlin
Worldwide in August 2003, observed 7,541 people in public washrooms in New York,
Chicago, San Francisco, Dallas, Miami, and Toronto.
| MaleWashers | MaleNon-washers | FemaleWashers | FemaleNon-washers | |
| John F Kennedy Airport, New York | 63% | 37% | 78% | 22% |
| O’Hare Airport, Chicago | 62% | 38% | 85% | 15% |
| San Francisco International Airport, San Francisco | 80% | 20% | 59% | 41% |
| Dallas/Fort Worth Airport, Dallas | 69% | 31% | 92% | 8% |
| Miami Dade County International Airport, Miami | 70% | 30% | 79% | 21% |
| Toronto International Airport, Toronto | 95% | 5% | 97% | 3% |
| Total | 74% | 26% | 83% | 17% |
In contrast to airports in the United States, the vast majority of
travelers using the airport restrooms in Toronto, Canada – a city which
experienced a major SARS outbreak – washed almost every time.
US airport
observations contrast sharply with an August 2003 Wirthlin telephone survey of
1,000 Americans, in which 95 percent said that they wash their hands in public
restrooms. The same phone survey – which found only 58 percent of people say
they wash their hands after sneezing or coughing and only 77 percent say they
wash their hands after changing a diaper – highlights the seriousness of the
problem.
In a similar Wirthlin survey conducted in 2000 for ASM, 95
percent reported they always wash their hands with only 67 percent observed
washing their hands (based on 7,836 adults). A 1996 Wirthlin survey showed 94
percent of people claiming to always wash their hands with only 68 percent
actually observed doing so (based on 6,333 adults).
Spurred by the latest
findings, the ASM is redoubling its educational efforts, launching Take Action:
Clean Hands Campaign – a national initiative to educate Americans about health
risks associated with poor hand washing habits.
"Although hand washing
seems like such a little thing, it could really have a powerful impact on the
way we manage the spread of infectious disease and newer public health threats
like SARS and the Norwalk virus responsible for cruise ship illness," said Dr.
Judy Daly, ASM Secretary. "The same people that fail to wash after using
restrooms go on to pick up children, handle food, greet family and use the other
public facilities. Hand washing can be instrumental in controlling the spread of
common and more serious infections," says Daly, Director of the Microbiology
Laboratories, Primary Children's Medical Center, University of Utah, Salt Lake
City.
However, more people may be getting hand washing message. In the
1996 and 2000 surveys, 67-68 percent of people observed in public restrooms
washed up. In this survey overall, 78 percent of those observed washed their
hands, although settings and populations were different and the results may be
skewed by the high percentage of hand washers in Toronto.
Dr. Donald Low,
Chief of the Department of Microbiology at the University of Toronto and
Toronto's Mt. Sinai Hospital, one of the lead investigators of the Toronto SARS
outbreak, said he wasn't surprised by either the almost universal hand washing
at Toronto's airport, or the low levels in other cities. "The message about the
importance of hand washing was put out every day here," he said. "And not just
because of SARS – hand washing is the smart thing to do. It should be second
nature for all of us."
Low, who said that he is sure the hand washing
rate in Toronto prior to the SARS outbreak was similar to that in other cities,
notes that "it's such a simple, basic important tool to prevent disease
transmission. Yet people ignore this step again and again. It's even been shown
that health care workers don't wash their hands between patients."
"Our
experience with SARS was such a wakeup call. People in the hospital here have
changed their hand-washing habits. Here in Toronto, it has become a natural
course of action," Low said.
Take Action: Clean Hands
Campaign
Take Action: Clean Hands Campaign is a key component of the
ASM's ongoing efforts designed to spread the message about the importance of
hand washing. The campaign consists of educational materials designed for
healthcare professionals and consumers including a brochure, poster and stickers
and a web site destination, www.washup.org, for downloading information and
materials.
The ASM's initial survey and educational efforts began in 1996
with Operation Clean Hands and continued in 2000 with the Clean Hands
Campaign.
"While Americans are beginning to recognize the importance of
washing their hands in public places, many are still not getting the message,"
Daly says. "It's possible that the situation might be worse than our survey
indicates. Some people may have washed only because 'someone was watching.' In
the absence of monitoring, numbers may have been dramatically different. Our
message is clear: one of the most effective tools in preventing the spread of
infection is literally at our fingertips."
The American Society for
Microbiology (ASM), headquartered in Washington, D.C., is the world's largest
single biological science organization, with more than 42,000 members
worldwide.
Its members work in many different settings, including
education (research institutions, undergraduate and graduate institutions, and
medical, dental and veterinary schools), industry (pharmaceutical, food and
agricultural, biotechnology, environmental, and pollution control companies and
hospitals), and federal and state governments (research laboratories and public
health).