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29th September 2017
01:51pm BST
RPS have said washing hands for a length of 20 seconds is a way you can ensure you’re getting rid of germs causing colds, flus, infections and stomach upsets.
Doing this, they say, will help cut the need for antibiotics which continue to become less effective with bugs becoming increasingly resistant to them.
Analysing their poll of 2000 people, they found people weren’t washing their hands for long enough (84 percent), others didn’t wash their hands before eating (65 percent), half don’t wash hands after touching animals including pets, some don’t wash their hands before prepping meals (32 percent), and a fifth don’t always wash their hands after using the toilet.
It turns out a third of bacteria and viruses which can cause diarrhoea and 16 percent of respiratory infections can be prevented by washing our hands well.
RPS president, Ash Soni said,
“Even when we remain unaffected by the bugs we carry, if we don’t wash our hands we can transmit infections which then become a real problem for those who are more vulnerable, such as children and the elderly, who may then need to be prescribed antibiotics. “If we can reduce the number of illnesses where antibiotics are needed, we can reduce antibiotic resistance by saving these important medicines for when they are really required. “Antibiotics should not be given for viral infections but often still are, partly due to patient demand.”They pointed out that its often the case where people seek antibiotics because they feel they’re not getting better soon enough when really, colds and coughs can take around 14 and 21 days to disappear.
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