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<ul><li>As <keyword id="1754604" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="coronavirus">Coronavirus</keyword> pandemic sweeps the world, <keyword id="419433" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="google-doodle">Google Doodle</keyword> honoured Hungarian physician <keyword id="8933375" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="ignaz-semmelweis">Ignaz Semmelweis</keyword> — the man who first discovered the benefits of handwashing. </li><li>The doodle’s animated video showcases the right way to wash hands while Semmelweis ticks the timer. </li><li>Wash between attending the living and studying the dead, he had said.</li></ul>As Coronavirus pandemic sweeps the world, Google Doodle honoured Hungarian physician Ignaz Semmelweis — the man who first discovered the benefits of handwashing. This time, the doodle’s animated video showcases the right way to wash hands while Semmelweis ticks the timer. "Today, Semmelweis is widely remembered as "the father of infection control," credited with revolutionizing not just obstetrics, but the medical field itself, informing generations beyond his own that handwashing is one of the most effective ways to prevent the spread of diseases," Google Doodle <a href="https://www.indiatoday.in/trending-news/story/google-doodle-celebrates-ignaz-semmelweis-first-person-to-discover-benefits-of-handwashing-1657674-2020-03-20">website says</a>. 
 <div type="Youtube" id="h8OX0FNWANM" title="Recognizing Ignaz Semmelweis and Handwashing" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/h8OX0FNWANM/mqdefault.jpg"></div>



 ‘Wash between attending the living and studying the dead’ In 1847, Semmelweis was appointed as the Chief Resident in the maternity clinic of the Vienna General Hospital on this very date. At that time, Childbed fever was causing an array of maternal deaths in Europe. This dates back to the mid-nineteenth century, when child births took place at home, with high risk of infections. 
That is when Semmelweis said that the doctors need to wash their hands on a frequent basis to avoid transmission of diseases — precisely what the world is facing today because of the pandemic. As many as 197 infectious cases of Coronavirus have been reported in India — including four deaths. The <a href="https://www.news18.com/news/world/dr-ignaz-semmelweis-first-doctor-to-discover-handwashing-benefits-honoured-by-google-doodle-today-2543569.html">World Health Organisation (WHO)</a>, that declared coronavirus as a public health emergency, says that “most health care-associated infections are preventable through good hand hygiene – cleaning hands at the right times and in the right way”. Wash between attending the living and studying the dead, he had said. The infection was being transferred from doctors to patients via hands. After which, all the medical staff was asked to wash hands after treating a patient. Soon after the practice gained ground, deaths due to childbed fever reduced significantly. Years later, Semmelweis published his discovery “The Etiology, Concept, and Prophylaxis of Childbed Fever” in 1961. Born in 1818 in Budapest, Semmelweis got his doctorate degree from the University of Vienna. However, in the later years of his life, the physician <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/google-doodle-remembers-first-doctor-dr-ignaz-semmelweis-who-discovered-handwashing-benefits-2197691">suffered a breakdown and was taken to a mental hospital,</a> where he died in 1865. Reports suggest that he died of infection on his right hand. Today, the recommendations to wash hands frequently and other hygiene regimes are followed according to the "<keyword id="6684272" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Germ-theory-of-disease">germ theory of disease</keyword>". See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/data-of-coronavirus-patients-state-wise-in-india/articleshow/74669748.cms">Coronavirus cases in India state wise: 195 infected, 20 cured and 4 dead</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/entertainment/news/kartik-aaryan-recreated-his-famous-pyaar-ka-punchnama-monologue-to-educate-people-about-coronavirus/articleshow/74722949.cms">Kartik Aaryan recreated his famous Pyaar ka Punchnama monologue to educate people about Coronavirus</a>

Google Doodle honours Dr Ignaz Semmelweis who controlled Childbed fever with his ‘correct’ handwashing practice

<ul><li>Google is relaunching its Doodle archives to kill boredom under the ‘Stay and Play at home’ tagline. </li><li>Starting today, Google will launch a <keyword id="1574956" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="coding">coding</keyword> game from the past doodles everyday. </li><li>Today, it launched an interactive game that dates back to 2017, which was launched to celebrate 50 years of kids coding. </li><li>This is based on the <keyword id="9126324" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="scratch-programming">scratch programming</keyword> language for kids aged between 8 to 16 years. The idea is to make coding a fun learning experience for kids.</li></ul>As millions of people across the globe stay confined to their homes in the wake of <keyword id="1754604" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="coronavirus">Coronavirus</keyword>, Google is <a href="https://9to5google.com/2020/04/26/cure-boredom-popular-google-doodle-games/">relaunching its Doodle archives</a> to kill boredom under the ‘Stay and Play at home’ tagline. Starting today, Google will launch a coding game from its old doodles, everyday. “As COVID-19 continues to impact communities around the world, people and families everywhere are spending more time at home. In light of this, we’re launching a throwback Doodle series looking back at some of our popular interactive <keyword id="419433" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="google-doodle">Google Doodle</keyword> games,” the company said. Today, it launched an interactive game from 2017, which was launched to celebrate 50 years of kids coding. This was to observe the Computer Science Education week. The doodle features a carrot eating rabbit. To win the game, the mammal has to collect all the carrots following the instructions given by the player using command tiles. This is based on the scratch programming language for kids aged between 8 to 16 years. The interactive language was developed by Google Doodle team, Google Blockly team, and MIT Scratch. The idea is to make coding a fun learning experience for kids. Scratch allows the kids to drag and drop blocks as per instructions rather than getting them into complex coding. "In the interactive Doodle, you program and help a furry friend across 6 levels in a quest to gather its favorite food by snapping together coding blocks based on the Scratch programming language for kids," <a href="https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/technology/internet/stay-and-play-at-home-says-google-through-its-coding-doodle/article31441663.ece">said</a> Champika Fernando, a MIT Scratch Team-member. The most recent doodles launched by Google have been in line with the initiatives around the global pandemic. It launched doodles to honour Hungarian physician Ignaz Semmelweis, who first discovered the benefits of handwashing and a doodle series to thank Coronavirus helpers who are the frontline of this battle — including healthcare professionals and packaging workers. See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/a-new-google-doodle-series-will-be-dedicated-to-health-workers-and-researchers/articleshow/75020689.cms">A new Google Doodle series will be dedicated to health workers and researchers</a>

Google brings back its coding game archives amid Coronavirus lockdown

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Your hands can have anywhere from 100,000 to a few million <keyword id="64150" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Germs">germs</keyword> at any given time.</li><li>Some of those germs live naturally on your skin to protect you, but a lot of them are picked up in the environment.</li><li>If you stopped washing your hands, you become more likely to pick up viruses like influenza, norovirus, and yes, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/coronavirus">coronaviruses</a>.</li><li>You could also end up with a Staphylococcus infection, or an infection from flesh-eating bacteria — also known for causing necrotizing soft tissue infections.</li><li>To avoid that, make sure to regularly <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/handwashing">wash your hands</a> for at least 20 seconds, covering every inch of your hands. </li></ul>Following is a transcript of the <keyword id="21654" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="video">video</keyword>.Narrator: Germs are like cars. They are always on the move. And our hands? They're like one big freeway, moving germs toll-free from location to location outside and inside your body. But when you wash your hands, you create a major roadblock, stopping the germs in their tracks. So, what would happen if you gave up <keyword id="131084" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Handwashing">handwashing</keyword> forever?Your hands can have anywhere from 100,000 to a few million germs at any given time. Some of those germs live naturally on your skin to protect you, but a lot of them are quite literally picked up in the environment. Those germs then sit, waiting for transportation to your mouth, nose, or eyes. And these environmental germs can be downright evil.This was something we discovered way back in the 1840s, when Hungarian doctor Ignaz Semmelweis noticed that when doctors performed autopsies and then helped women give birth, it led to a higher death rate among the mothers. Semmelweis implemented chlorine handwashing practices throughout the hospital, and death rates dropped significantly.Now, there are a lot of disease-causing germs out there. Meet bacterial conjunctivitis, or, as you may know it, pink eye: the pus-producing, eye-burning infection. Say you go to the bathroom and don't wash up afterwards. That bacteria makes its way onto your hands, and then a simple eye scratch will set your pink eye into motion.After preparing uncooked meat, petting certain animals, or coming in contact with fecal matter, your stomach is about to feel pretty terrible. Diarrhea-causing illnesses, like salmonella or giardiasis, are 30% more likely when you don't wash your hands. And even after you recover, you are likely to find yourself catching these illnesses again and again.As you continue touching contaminated surfaces and shaking hands, more germs come into the mix. You are 20% more likely to catch respiratory viruses, like influenzas, the common cold, and, of course, COVID-19, potentially leading to complications or even severe pneumonia.And then there's the norovirus. This severe stomach virus only needs a single particle to infect you. Influenzas need 50 to 100. So without handwashing, you're almost guaranteed to catch it sooner or later.Now, you could diminish your chances of getting any of these diseases by simply not touching your face. But good luck; one small study found that on average, people touch their faces over 20 times an hour.And, sure, germs will die eventually if they haven't been transported to an opening, but because you won't be able to stop touching things, you also won't be able to stop picking up new germs and other grime, so your hands will get dirtier and dirtier, smellier and smellier. And chances are you aren't moisturizing either, which means your hands will become dry and cracks will form, creating a perfect pocket for germs.Let's say that now you get a cut on your hand. Not only will all those diseases have an even easier way inside, the most menacing germs might just join this infection party. Staphylococcus, more commonly known as staph, can be a relatively harmless group of bacteria and can even be commonly found in some people's noses. But when a wound opens up and staph moves in, expect skin irritations, boils, fevers, and even blood infections.Some strains of staph and other bacteria take it one step further. Welcome the flesh-eating bacteria, also known for causing necrotizing soft tissue infections. This life-threatening infection is a result of bacteria invading the skin, often when a cut or wound is present. It can destroy the skin, muscle, and, if untreated, lead to death.So, you now have a cocktail of infectious diseases, severe blisters, rashes, and your flesh is being eaten alive. It's right about now you might want to rush off and wash your hands. But remember, it's not about how often you wash; it's about how and when you wash.For how, make sure it's for at least 20 seconds, covering every inch of your hand. If you don't have a sink or clean water, use at least 60% alcohol hand sanitizer for 20 seconds, making sure the hands stay wet throughout. And for when, wash whenever you think you might have come in contact with germs. And try to see how long you can go without touching your face.

What would happen to you if you never washed your hands

r.classen/Shutterstock<ul class="summary-list"><li>As the novel coronavirus spreads around the globe, public health experts continue to stress that the best way to protect yourself from getting sick is to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-prevent-wuhan-coronavirus-hygiene-hand-washing-2020-2">wash your hands frequently</a> and diligently. </li><li>Insider polled more than 1,000 people across the US on Thursday using a SurveyMonkey Audience poll, asking, "What steps, if any, have you taken to prepare for a possible coronavirus outbreak in the US?"</li><li>More than 65% of the women surveyed said they were "washing hands and keeping surfaces clean" in the face of the COVID-19 outbreak, but only about half of the men said the same. </li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories</a>.</li></ul>Wash your hands.It's the simplest, cheapest, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-prevent-wuhan-coronavirus-hygiene-hand-washing-2020-2">most effective and straightforward piece of advice</a> health experts are handing out in the face of a novel coronavirus outbreak that's rapidly circling the globe.So far, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-virus-everything-we-know-deadly-2019-ncov-wuhan-spread-2020-1">more than 83,000 people have come down with the new viral illness caused by the coronavirus,</a> called COVID-19. The sickness prompts symptoms including a fever, dry cough, and in severe cases, trouble breathing and death.Most cases of COVID-19 diagnosed so far are in China, where the virus originated last year. But in recent days, the number of cases being tallied around the world has soared, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-covid-19-is-spreading-faster-outside-china-than-inside-2020-2">just as the rate of new infections in China tumbles</a>, prompting concerns that a widespread <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-covid-19-is-spreading-faster-outside-china-than-inside-2020-2">pandemic could be on the horizon</a>, if measures to contain the virus around the world fail. <h2>Public health experts still consider basic health and hygiene measures the best defense against COVID-19</h2>"You've heard about washing hands," Dr. Sherlita Amler, an adjunct professor of public health at New York Medical College and Commissioner of Health in Westchester County, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-prevent-wuhan-coronavirus-hygiene-hand-washing-2020-2">said recently at a coronavirus conference</a>. "If I could teach one thing to the public that would prevent most of the diseases that I have to deal with, it would be wash your hands."Officials at the World Health Organization and US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention agree, and have said much the same in recent days and weeks. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/bathroom-hand-washing-after-using-the-toilet-2018-8">Regular handwashing is linked to all kinds of great health outcomes</a>, like fewer norovirus cases, fewer deaths, and happier, more diarrhea-free trips to the bathroom down the road. It's also one of the best ways, <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/about/prevention-treatment.html">health experts say</a>, to keep yourself healthy during the coronavirus outbreak. As it turns out, though, women say they are heeding this piece of public health advice in significantly greater numbers than men - at least in the US.According to an Insider Data poll, conducted in online surveys on Thursday, a significantly higher number of women reported they're washing their hands and keeping surfaces clean to ward off COVID-19. Specifically, when 1,051 poll respondents were asked: "What steps, if any, have you taken to prepare for a possible coronavirus outbreak in the US?" 382 women (65% of those who were asked) said they were "washing hands and keeping surfaces clean." Only 243 of the men asked said the same (52.7%). That statistically significant poll finding lines up with what other scientists have <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2000/09/000919080326.htm">discovered before</a>. <h2>Men don't wash their hands as much as women, even though they should</h2>"People who use urinals probably think they don't need to wash their hands," Michael Osterholm, director of the University of Minnesota's Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, previously told the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/27/health/many-dont-wash-hands-after-using-the-bathroom.html">New York Times</a>.But handwashing experts say that's a bogus idea. "It doesn't matter whether you're peeing or you're pooping, you should wash your hands," Don Schaffner, a professor of food science <a href="http://foodsci.rutgers.edu/schaffner/">at Rutgers</a> who has been studying handwashing for years, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/bathroom-hand-washing-after-using-the-toilet-2018-8">previously told Business Insider</a>. "I think a good general rule of thumb is you should wash your hands any time you feel that they might be dirty." That advice becomes even more important during an infectious disease outbreak. The most common way COVID-19 is spread is through person-to-person contact. Regular handwashing, along with keeping a safe distance from others who might be sick (that's about six feet) as well as judiciously avoiding touching your face, especially around the eyes, nose, and mouth, are some of the greatest things you can do to stay healthy right now.<h2>Wash your hands for 20 seconds, and scrub them well</h2>Jose Luis Pelaez Inc via Getty ImagesLather up.Regular, vigorous, and proper handwashing should include soap, water, and last for around 20 seconds. That is long enough to hum "Happy Birthday to You" about twice in your head (or out loud, if you like), and it can really make a difference in stopping the spread of all kinds of infectious diseases. <h2>Regular handwashing cuts down your risk of infection dramatically</h2>Since the 1800s, health care professionals have known good hand hygiene is linked to lower infection rates. It was in the 1840s that Dr. <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ignaz-Semmelweis">Ignaz Semmelweis</a> noticed that when doctors and medical students handled cadavers before touching patients in the maternity ward, more mothers developed fevers and even died. He instituted an unpopular chlorine-washing rule and saw the death rates there tumble.Similarly, during the Crimean War, nurse <a href="https://globalhandwashing.org/about-hand-washing/history-of-hand-washing/">Florence Nightingale</a> initiated handwashing rules and other hygiene measures in the British hospital where she worked. Death rates there dropped by <a href="https://www.history.com/topics/womens-history/florence-nightingale">two-thirds</a>, providing some of the first hard evidence that proper hygiene saves lives.Today, researchers at the <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12726975">London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine</a> estimate better handwashing could cut diarrhea death rates in half, and save more than a million lives (adults and children) every year. Regular hand washing can also cut your risk of <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16553905">developing a respiratory infection</a> by 16%.Pathogens like novel coronavirus droplets can get <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-prevent-wuhan-coronavirus-hygiene-hand-washing-2020-2">deposited on surfaces, including doorknobs</a>, elevator buttons, toilet handles, phones, and store counters, which we all touch with our hands and fingers, often before we reach for our faces and mouths. (In the survey, women also said they're wiping down those hard surfaces more often than men are, which lines up with data from The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development: women around the world tend to <a href="https://stats.oecd.org/index.aspx?queryid=54757">spend around three hours a day doing unpaid work</a>, while men do just about half that.) Even a little more handwashing, especially while we're traveling, could really help.One 2019 study, <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/risa.13438">published in the peer-reviewed journal Risk Analysis</a>, suggested that simply "increasing travelers engagement with hand hygiene at all airports" could reduce the impact of a pandemic by anywhere from 24% to 69%. (The study authors estimated that - at most - only about a quarter of people in airports at any given time clean their hands.) It's certainly not the first evidence we have that handwashing really works, though.So what are you waiting for? Scrub up already. About our polling: SurveyMonkey Audience polls from a national sample balanced by census data of age and gender. Respondents are incentivized to complete surveys through charitable contributions. Generally speaking, digital polling tends to skew toward people with access to the internet. SurveyMonkey Audience doesn't try to weigh its sample based on race or income. A total of 1,051 respondents were collected February 27, 2020, a margin of error plus or minus 3.09 percentage points with a 95% confidence level.<ul class="read-more-links"><li>Read more:</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-us-ranked-top-epidemic-preparedness-but-only-for-rich-2020-2">Trump held up a map showing the US is the best prepared country in the world for a pandemic, but only for the rich, influential, and fully insured</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wuhan-coronavirus-myths-red-meat-bleach-antibiotics-and-sesame-oil-2020-2">13 bogus claims about the coronavirus, including a fake coconut-oil cure and a false link to imported packages</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-works-to-fight-covid-19-lessons-from-china-who-2020-2">The rest of the world is 'simply not ready' for the coronavirus, according to a WHO envoy who just returned from China</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/bathroom-hand-washing-after-using-the-toilet-2018-8">Do you really have to wash your hands every time you use the bathroom? The definitive answer, according to science</a></li></ul> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-myths-debunked-wuhan-china-2020-2">Pathologists debunk 13 coronavirus myths</a></h3>

Women say they're washing their hands significantly more than men as the coronavirus spreads around the world

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><a href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/occupied-lavatory-sign-on-commercial-airlines-520461745?src=MCYDP3o8aueDbmmLUZaD8w-1-0">Shutterstock/litabit</a>Not all trips to the toilet are created equal.</div></div></div><ul><li>We've all been taught to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/bathroom-hand-dryers-or-paper-towels-which-carries-more-bacteria-2018-4">wash our hands</a> after using the restroom. But not everyone does.</li><li>Scientific research suggests that washing up after going to the bathroom, especially if you might have feces on your hands, is an effective way to combat infection and illness. </li><li>In a pinch, even rinsing your hands with cold water helps prevent the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/bacteria">spread of bacteria</a>.</li></ul>We all know what we're supposed to do after using the toilet. But <a href="https://www.bradleycorp.com/hand-washing/">survey</a> after <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/hygiene/fast_facts.html">survey</a> (including one in which scientists <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2000/09/000919080326.htm">secretly camped out in bathrooms)</a> have revealed a dirty truth: people don't always wash their hands before they leave the bathroom. One study suggested that <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2000/09/000919080326.htm">only 67% of people wash their hands</a> after they go. Don Schaffner, a professor of food <keyword id="41551" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="100" keywordseo="science">science</keyword> <a href="http://foodsci.rutgers.edu/schaffner/">at Rutgers</a>, has been studying hand washing for years and says the conventional wisdom shouldn't be ignored. "It doesn't matter whether you're peeing or you're pooping, you should wash your hands," he told Business Insider.Here's why.<h2>Germs can hang out in bathrooms for a long time</h2>Each trip to the restroom is its own unique journey into germ land. So some occasions probably require more washing up than others."If you've got diarrhea all over your hands, it's way more important that you wash your hands than if... you didn't get any obvious poop on your fingers," Schaffner said. "My gosh, if you've got poop on your hands and you have the time, certainly, get in there, lather up real good and do a real good job." Compared to feces, urine can be pretty clean when we're not harboring any infections, though <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3957746/">it's not totally sterile</a>."People who use urinals probably think they don't need to wash their hands," Michael Osterholm, director of the University of Minnesota's Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, said to the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/27/health/many-dont-wash-hands-after-using-the-bathroom.html">New York Times</a>. (In <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2000/09/000919080326.htm">studies</a>, women tend to be better about adhering to hand washing than men.)But it's best to wash your hands after every trip to the toilet because human feces carry pathogens like E. coli, Shigella, Streptococcus, hepatitis A and E, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/heres-the-truth-about-catching-germs-from-toilet-seats-2018-6">and more</a>. You can also easily <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/norovirus/index.html">catch norovirus</a> by touching <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26786956">bathroom surfaces that have been contaminated</a> with a sick person's poo or vomit, then putting your hands into your mouth. The super-contagious illness is the most common food poisoning culprit, and causes diarrhea, vomiting, nausea and stomach pain. A <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0028132">wide variety of other microbes and bacteria</a> can be found in bathrooms, too. Some strains of Staphylococcus, or staph, are "found on almost every hand," as a team of hand washing researchers pointed out <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15489352">in a 2004 study</a>. Public toilets can house many different <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0054223#pone.0054223-Flores1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">drug-resistant strains of that bacteria</a>.Even if your own hands are clean and poo-free, can you say the same for the last person who touched that toilet handle, used the sink, or opened the bathroom door?<h2>Hand washing is a life-saving routine </h2><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">Matt McClain/Getty</div></div></div>Religious traditions have urged cleanliness via ritual hand washing for thousands of years. But it wasn't until the 1800s that health care professionals linked good hand hygiene to lower infection rates.Dr. <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ignaz-Semmelweis">Ignaz Semmelweis</a> noticed that when doctors and medical students handled cadavers before touching patients in the maternity ward, more mothers developed fevers and even died. He instituted an unpopular chlorine-washing rule and saw the death rates tumble.Similarly, during the Crimean War, nurse <a href="https://globalhandwashing.org/about-hand-washing/history-of-hand-washing/">Florence Nightingale</a> initiated hand-washing rules and other hygiene measures in the British hospital where she worked. Death rates there dropped by <a href="https://www.history.com/topics/womens-history/florence-nightingale">two-thirds</a>, providing some of the first hard evidence that proper hygiene saves lives.We're still far from perfect at preventing infections. People generally contract diarrhea - which kills around 525,000 children under five annually around the world - by drinking dirty water, eating contaminated food (often soiled by dirty hands), and from person to person contact "as a result of poor hygiene," according to the <a href="http://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/diarrhoeal-disease">World Health Organization</a>. Better hand washing could cut diarrhea death rates in half and save more than a million lives (adults and children) every year, researchers at the <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12726975">London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine</a> estimate. Regular hand washing can also cut your risk of <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16553905">developing a respiratory infection</a> by 16%.<h2>'Wash your hands any time you feel that they might be dirty'</h2>We all come in contact with unsavory substances regularly, especially after touching <a href="http://www.icaac.org/index.php/newsroom/92-icaac-2014/newsroom/321-how-quickly-viruses-can-contaminate-buildings-and-how-to-stop-them">public doorknobs</a>, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-dirty-is-your-cell-phone-2016-3">our cell phones</a>, and moist <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-often-to-clean-kitchen-towels-to-avoid-getting-sick-e-coli-2018-6/">kitchen towels</a> - all of which are likely <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-often-to-clean-a-computer-keyboard-2018-4">dirtier than a clean toilet seat</a>, which typically houses just 50 bacteria per square inch. So hand washing at any time of day can help stop the spread of many kinds of <a href="https://cmr.asm.org/content/17/4/863#abstract-1">bacteria, yeasts, and viruses</a>. "I think a good general rule of thumb is you should wash your hands any time you feel that they might be dirty," Schaffner said. In other words, seize the opportunity when you're near a sink. He said he's not "super paranoid" about making sure his own hands are always squeaky clean, but some of his favorite times of day to wash up are after walking the dog, working in the dirt, or handling raw meat. Even a quick "splash 'n dash," as <a href="http://jfoodprotection.org/doi/10.4315/0362-028X.JFP-14-245">researchers like to call the practice</a> of rinsing with water but no soap, can help fight off some bacteria that causes infections. But that shortcut is not advised if you might have raw meat or feces on your mitts, and a lather with soap and water is <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21219730">more effective at disinfecting</a> hands than any wipe or sanitizer.<h2>Here are Schaffner's best tips for your next journey to the toilet</h2><h2><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">r.classen/Shutterstock</div></div></div></h2>Follow this simple, three-step hand-washing plan to lower your chances of getting colds, self-inflicted food poisoning, and diarrhea.First, don't worry about the temperature of the water; Schaffner's <a href="http://jfoodprotection.org/doi/10.4315/0362-028X.JFP-16-370?code=FOPR-site">studies have confirmed</a> that doesn't make a difference. He suggests that you "adjust the water temperature so it's a nice comfortable temperature, so you can do a good job."Second, give yourself enough time to "get some soap in there, lather it up real good, clean under your finger nails," Schaffner said. Spending even five seconds washing your hands can <a href="http://jfoodprotection.org/doi/10.4315/0362-028X.JFP-14-245?code=FOPR-site">help reduce the amount of bacteria on them</a>, but 20 seconds is better. The <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/hand-washing/when-how-hand-washing.html">Centers for Disease Control</a> recommends humming the Happy Birthday song to yourself twice as a timer. Third, dry off before you leave the room. This step is key because wet hands transfer more bacteria than dry ones. "If your hands are still wet, you go to touch that door of the bathroom, having your wet hand might actually help transfer bacteria," Schaffner said. He'll even dry his palms on his pants if there's no paper towel around. Despite all the evidence demonstrating the health benefits of regular hand washing, Schaffner knows his advice can only go so far."I'm not in charge of you washing your hands, just because I'm a guy who did some science and did some research on hand-washing," he said. "You do what you want." <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/antibacterial-soap-triclosan-bad-2017-7">Why you should stop using most antibacterial soaps</a></h3> <div> </div> </div>

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