Effect Of Hand Washing On The Prevention Of Infectious Diseases In Public Secondary Schools
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Effect Of Hand Washing On The Prevention Of Infectious Diseases In Public Secondary Schools
Chapter one
INTRODUCTION
Background to the Study
Hand cleaning is one of the most important parts of illness prevention in our country, Nigeria; thousands of people have died as a result of infections caused by inadequate hand washing.
Hand washing, often known as hygiene, is the process of cleaning one’s hands with water and soap or another liquid to remove grime, dust, and/or microorganisms (CDC, 2013).
According to the CDC (2013), hand washing is the act of washing one’s hands using soap or detergent that contains antiseptics.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) (2013), hand washing is the act of minimising or inhibiting the growth of microorganisms by using an antiseptic hand drop or performing an antiseptic hand wash.
Hand washing is also defined by the World Health Organisation as the act of practicing hand hygiene to physically or mechanically remove dust, organic debris, and microorganisms.
Hand washing is the first and most important method of disease prevention because it is said to remove or inhibit the growth of microorganisms, according to WHO (2002). Hand washing frequently acts as vectors that carry disease-causing pathogens from person to person, either directly or indirectly through surface contact.
Humans can transfer bacteria by touching each other’s hands, hair, nose, and face. Hands that have been into touch with human faces, physiological fluids such as nasal discharge, and contaminated food or water can carry bacteria, viruses, and parasites to the host.
Hand washing with soap works by understanding disease transmission patterns. Washing hands with water alone removes far fewer germs than washing hands with soap. Using soap also requires more time for massage, rabbis, and friction to remove them from the fingers’ tips and between the fingertips.
In comparison to simply using water for hand cleaning, effective hand washing with soap takes 8 – 15 seconds, followed by a thorough rinse with running water.
According to the CDC (2013), your hands are the primary means of physical engagement with the environment around you. As you touch items, germs are transferred to your hands and face.
You may unintentionally bring disease-causing microorganisms into your system. Hand washing is a simple and efficient approach to prevent the spread of many infectious diseases, such as the common cold, food poisoning, respiratory illness, diarrhoea, and vomiting.
According to the CDC (2013), hand washing is one of the most effective ways to prevent the transmission of infection and disease in general. Child-friendly settings and workplaces include institutions and hospitals. A clean hand can help prevent germs from spreading from one person to another and throughout the community.
According to WHO (2010), in the mid-1800s, research conducted by Igan Z Semmel Wels in Vierina, Australia, and Oliver Wenden Holmes in Boston, USA, established that hospital-acquired infections were transferred through the hands of health community workers.
Semmel Wels began working as a house officer in one of the two obstetric clinics at the University of Vienna Allgemeino Kranken (General Hospital) in 1847. He discovered that maternal mortality rates, which were primarily caused by puerperal fever, were significantly greater in one clinic than in another (16 percent against 2 percent).
He also observed that doctors and medical students frequently go directly to the delivery suite after doing autopsies and have an unpleasant stench on their hands despite washing them with soap and water prior to entering the clinic.
He hypothesised that cadaveric patients were transported from the autopsy room to the delivery theatre via the hands of doctors and students, resulting in the puerperal.
As a result, Semmel Wels recommended that hands be scribed in chlorinated line solution before every patient contact, especially after entering the autopsy room. Following the implementation of these measures, the mortality rate dropped dramatically to 33% in the clinic most affected and remained low thereafter.
In general, hand washing protects people poorly or not at all from drops and airborne infections like measles, chicken pox, influenza, and tuberculosis. It provides the highest protection against infections spread by oral methods.
Certain products or chemicals are used in hand washing and preventing the transmission of disease, including:
1. Soap and detergent.
2. Ash and mould.
3. Hand antiseptic.
4. Solid antiseptic.
5. Anti-bacterial soap.
6. Alcohol-gel
Hand washing with soap (H.W.W.SP) is one of the most effective and expensive methods of reducing diarrhoea and pneumonia, which combined account for the bulk of infant deaths.
This behaviour is expected to contribute significantly to meeting the Millennium Development Goals of reducing death among children under the age of five by one-third by the year 2015.
October 15 has been designated as Global Hand Washing Day in accordance with the United Nations’ designation of 2008 as the International Year of Sanitation (WHO, 2013).
Statement of the Problem
Many illnesses are unnecessary because the faces-oral route of disease transmission is simply preventable (WHO, 2013). The common cold and severe gastro-intestinal problems such as diarrhoea, ebola, and vomiting are examples of infectious diseases that regularly pass from person to person (Water Aid, 2006).
Without a question, hygiene plays a critical role in reducing the worldwide illness burden. Hand washing has been strongly suggested as a simple yet effective method of hygiene (hand washing) that has a measurable influence on reducing the infection burden in impoverished countries.
Correct hand washing is the single most effective method for preventing the transmission of infectious diseases. Good hand washing procedures are simple to learn and can dramatically minimise the transmission of infectious diseases among both adults and children.
Hand washing is one of many hygiene programs around the world. This study will focus on the effects of hand washing in public schools in Kaura Ward, Zaria Local Government Area, Kaduna State.
Study Objective
The research aims to determine the impact of hand washing on the prevention of infectious illnesses in public secondary schools. Specific aims include:
1. Determine the level of awareness about the benefits of hand washing in illness prevention in Kaura Ward’s public secondary schools.
2. To help Zaria LGA identify hand washing practices among pupils in public schools.
3. To identify diseases related with poor hand hygiene in public secondary schools in Kaura Ward, Zaria Local Government Area, Kaduna State.
Significance of the Study
The study aims to raise knowledge about the effectiveness of hand washing among students in public secondary schools in Kaura Ward, Zaria Local Government Area, Kaduna State. The following individuals will benefit from the study.
1. If the study’s findings are adopted and applied, schoolchildren’s knowledge of hand washing will improve, lowering the rate of illness among public secondary school pupils.
2. To the public, raising awareness and implementing better hand washing habits will minimise the rate of illness transmission among students and, as a result, the likelihood of spreading to the general public.
3. The community’s death rate from diseases associated to hand washing will decrease, as will the cost of treatment and the rate of poverty. Is there a distinction between public and community?
4. To the government, the cost of treatment will be reduced, mortality will be reduced, and it will also serve as a library literary material and a tool for informing the general public about the benefits of hand washing.
Research Questions
1. How well do public secondary school students in Kaura Ward, Zaria Local Government Area, Kaduna State, understand the importance of hand washing in illness prevention?
2. What are the hand washing practices of pupils in public schools in Kaura Ward, Zaria Local Government Area?
3. What diseases are related with poor hand washing practices among pupils at the Public Secondary School in Kaura Ward, Zaria Local Government Area?
Scope of the Study
This study is on the effectiveness of hand washing in disease prevention in public secondary schools in Kaura Ward of Zaria Local Government Area, Kaduna State.
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