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Think Your Toilets Are Dirty? Think Again!

DUBAI — Kitchens are dirtier than bathrooms when it comes to bacterial contamination, with kitchen cloths and taps being among the dirtiest items, according to a recent study.

Endorsing the results of an international and regional ‘Hygiene in the Home Study 2009’ released recently during the Hygiene Council meeting held in Egypt, local experts say that such studies can help create awareness on complications resulting from bacterial infections such as food poisoning. Good hygiene advice has even more relevance now in light of the current H1N1 outbreak, they add.

After a spate of food poisoning cases this year, including deaths, Dubai is currently holding its biggest-ever food safety awareness campaign. Housewives were also given training by the municipality on ‘safe kitchens’ to help them follow basics of hygiene 
while cooking.

Carried out by the Global Hygiene Council in 20 homes each in eight countries; Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Australia, Germany, India, Malaysia, South Africa, UK and USA, the study exposes the kitchen cleaning cloth to be the dirtiest item in the home. The kitchen tap is the second dirtiest item of those tested while only 8 per cent of householders thought this item would be the dirtiest.

When questioned, the majority of people (52 per cent) thought the most contaminated item in the home would be the toilet flush handle. In fact, kitchen taps are twice (13 per cent) more likely to be the home of E.coli 
than toilet flushes.

“This study is universally applicable,” says Dr Saeed Abdulla, Abu Dhabi-based Consultant in Community Medicine. “We expect bathrooms to be dirtier and therefore spent effort sterilising them while we consider that even rinsing will clean our kitchen utensils,” he adds.

“In cases of food poisoning, it’s the person, food or plate that can lead to complications. Therefore, maintaining hygiene such as washing hands is extremely important,” he adds.

John Oxford, chairman of the Hygiene Council and Professor of Virology at Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, London, says, “The study highlights significant gaps in the public’s hygiene knowledge and these really need to be addressed. The importance of cleaning key hygiene hotspots in the home is paramount, particularly at a time when we’re all concerned about the spread of infectious diseases such as swine flu. Practising good hygiene is something we can all do to break the chain of infection and protect ourselves and our families.”

Professor Tariq Ahmed Madani, Professor of Medicine and Infectious Diseases, Faculty of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Advisor to the Minister of Health, Ministry of Health, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia said, “It’s important to be practical and pay attention to areas that represent the greatest risk of infection. Hand washing at key times, appropriate surface disinfection of hand and food contact sites and proper laundry sanitation are where efforts should be focussed.”

“The single most effective technique in prevention of swine flu is hand washing,” adds Dr Abdulla. Understanding the importance of hand washing in cold and flu prevention is relatively high among survey respondents. Nearly half (45 per cent) of people questioned think ‘washing hands regularly’ is the most effective way to avoid catching a cold or flu, whilst more than a fifth (22 per cent) think it is ‘covering your nose and mouth when someone else sneezes’ and 10 per cent people believe surface disinfection provides the best solutions.

asmaalizain@khaleejtimes.ae