The cynics ask if preventing the spread of the virus can really be as simple as washing our hands.
Much of the media discussion about coronavirus revolves around diagnosis and management of suspected cases. But the first piece of advice that is essential for anyone worried about contracting the coronavirus is something your grandparents might have suggested: wash your hands. It’s at the top of the list of many of the players trying to prevent the spread of the disease.
The benefits of hand washing over other preventive measures are clear: soap is easy to access. Both soap and alcohol-based products for cleaning hands are cost-effective interventions. Nevertheless, the spread of the new virus has set off alarm bells, with China famously building two hospitals in 10 days, cruise ships being quarantined and cities effectively being shut down.
Consideration should also be given to the fact that a run on medical masks could cause a shortage for public health-care workers who need them for protection against other diseases such as drug-resistant TB. This is particularly true in South Africa.Research shows that hand washing isn’t just effective in preventing transmission of coronavirus.
Not everyone is convinced. Hand washing has been treated with scepticism as a significant disease prevention and eradication measure by some who favour “hard science interventions”.A Hungarian-born physician in the mid-19th century, Ignaz Semmelweis, was ostracised and shunned by his colleagues because he was so bold as to make a link between decreased maternal mortality and hand washing for doctors who went directly from the dissection halls to deliver babies.
Hand washing is simple and should already be part of everyone’s daily routine. If it became a habit for everyone in the world, it would not just prevent mortality and illness from coronavirus. It could be the start of a more viable strategy to prevent death from other bacterial and viral diseases.
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