Almost everyone in their childhood has been told constantly to wash their hands to prevent the spread of diseases and viruses. However, it seems as though people disregard that rule more as they grow up, and it’s disgusting.
Hand-washing is essential for the well-being of yourself and others, which is why it was drilled into your brain as a child. Despite that, there are several times on campus where I have encountered people – both staff and students – not washing their hands, or just briefly dipping them into the water and pulling them out without drying them.
I have just one question for these people: why?
It doesn’t take much out of someone’s day to spend 20-30 seconds to make sure their hands are clean.
“Appropriate hand hygiene is the single most effective action to stop the spread of infection, while integrated with other critical measures,” according to the World Health Organization.
Hand-washing not only helps to reduce infections, as mentioned above, but also foodborne illnesses like salmonella, E.coli and listeria.
According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, “the Federal government estimates that there are about 48 million cases of foodborne illness annually.” These result in an estimated 128,000 hospitalizations and 3,000 deaths every year.
Foodborne illnesses aren’t the only possible threat to us right now.
With the spread of bird flu around the world, which is classified as low risk in the U.S. right now, it’s just as important to maintain your health and cleanliness. In the case of bird flu, and many other illnesses, this can be done through washing your hands.
The U.S. has also experienced threats of disease outbreaks in recent months, including listeria in deli meats, mpox and the aforementioned bird flu. With President Donald Trump pulling the U.S. out of the World Health Organization, it is imperative that these measures are taken to lower the risk of viruses.
If you already wash your hands, then good on you. If you don’t, I ask you to do better and consider the health of yourself and those around you.
From October 2024 to February 2025, the Center for Disease Control estimates that there have been between 29 million to 51 million flu illness cases in the United States.
If the U.S. is on the higher end of the cases, that means that it’s almost reaching more cases than the previous year.
Poor hand-washing habits could possibly contribute to illnesses breaking out on campus seemingly every semester. That’s not to say that people who catch these illnesses don’t wash their hands, but the chain of contamination has to come from somewhere, and that “somewhere” could be a person’s hands.
While there are plenty of people who do follow the rules and guidelines of handwashing, there are a few that don’t – and illnesses don’t care about quantity.
Help prevent the spread of infections and viruses. If you already wash your hands, keep doing that. If not, start getting into that habit. Make the world healthier for yourself and others.
