Water Handwashing Research Articles

Enumeration of Bacterial Isolates from Hands of Primary and Post Primary School pupils in Amai, Delta State

The presence of bacteria on the hands of fourty (40) school pupils from two different schools (Amai Primary and secondary School) in Amai, Delta State, was analysed. The reason was to enumerate bacteria isolated from hands of students. Swab samples were collected from hands of pupils in both schools of 20 students each of different sex groups. Microbiological methods was used for the isolation, enumeration and antibiotic test of the isolates. The results showed various isolates of Staphylococcus sp 56 (25.7%), Shigella sp 24 (9.7%), Staphylococcus epidermidis 32 (12.1%), Escherichia coli 41 (15.6%), and Enterococcus sp 36 (11.0%). Staphylococcus aureus 56 (25.3%) and Escherichia coli 41 (15.6%) were the most frequent isolates. The isolation of Shigella sp 24 (9.7%) and Enterococcus sp 36 (11.0%) is of great importance as the isolation of these organisms showed improper faecal wastes disposal around the school environment and also lack of proper clean up after using the convience by the pupils. Testing these isolates to few antibiotics, the isolates were susceptible to Pefloxacin, Gentamycin, Erythromycin, Chloramphenicol, Streptomycin, while resistant to Augmentin, Amoxicillin, and Ampiclox. This study revealed that the students hands were infested with pathogens due negligence of maintenance culture. Those in charge of schools like the principal are advised to keep soap and water for hand washing, while parents on their part should make available hand washing facilities for their children at home since it will add economic value to the society, why Government should enact laws that will make provision of washing hand amenities in all areas compulsory for individuals.

Impact of Water Exposure and Temperature Changes on Skin Barrier Function.

The frequency of hand hygiene has increased due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but there is little evidence regarding the impact of water exposure and temperature on skin. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of water exposure and temperature on skin barrier function in healthy individuals. A prospective observational study was conducted. Temperature, pH, transepidermal water loss (TEWL), erythema and stratum corneum hydration (SCH) were measured objectively before and after hot- and cold-water exposure and TempTest® (Microcaya TempTest, Bilbao, Spain) contact. Fifty healthy volunteers were enrolled. Hot-water exposure increased TEWL (25.75 vs. 58.58 g·h−1·m−2), pH (6.33 vs. 6.65) and erythema (249.45 vs. 286.34 AU). Cold-water immersion increased TEWL (25.75 vs. 34.96 g·h−1·m−2) and pH (6.33 vs. 6.62). TEWL (7.99 vs. 9.98 g·h−1·m−2) and erythema (209.07 vs. 227.79 AU) increased after being in contact with the hot region (44 °C) of the TempTest. No significant differences were found after contact with the cold region (4 °C) of the TempTest. In conclusion, long and continuous water exposure damages skin barrier function, with hot water being even more harmful. It would be advisable to use cold or lukewarm water for handwashing and avoid hot water. Knowing the proper temperature for hand washing might be an important measure to prevent flares in patients with previous inflammatory skin diseases on their hands.

Handwashing Practice of Food Establishment Customers, Microbial Quality of Handwashing Water, and Associated Factors in Ginjo Kebele, Jimma Town, Southwest Ethiopia.

Handwashing plays a major role in preventing the spread of infection and, if poorly implemented, leads to different illnesses. However, the quality of water meant for handwashing and handwashing practice and hand hygiene conditions of food establishment customers are overlooked issues, unlike drinking water and hygienic conditions and practice of food handlers. This study aimed to assess the microbial quality of water used for handwashing and hygienic practice and the status of customers of food establishments and associated factors in Ginjo Kebele, Jimma town, Southwest, Ethiopia. A cross-sectional study design was employed in July 2022. Forty water and 40 hand swab samples were taken and analyzed for total coliform and E. coli using the spread plate method. Handwashing facility conditions and the handwashing practices of customers were assessed using a checklist and questionnaire. The data were analyzed by SPSS version 23 software. The median handwashing water total coliform count was 390.0 CFU/ml. The median hand swab samples' total coliform and E. coli load were 21.6 and 4.8 CFU/cm2, respectively after handwashing practice. There was an uphill correlation between the handwashing water and hand swab sample total coliform load (r = .34, P = .032). The mean handwashing efficacy for the removal of total coliform was 25.8%. The microbial load was varied with the type of water container used, method of taking water from the container, handwashing practice, and hand drying. The microbial quality of handwashing water and hand swab samples didn't comply with the acceptable limit. Thus, governmental bodies should work to improve the handwashing practice of communities. Food establishment owners should treat water for handwashing, clean the water containers, handle the water properly, and avail soap and poster demonstrators to the handwashing facilities. The customers should also comply with proper hand washing practices and reduce hand contamination.

Effectivity of hand soap gel ethanol extract acem acem leaves (Oxalis dehradunensis Raizada) as pesticide cleaner: Experimental study in Indonesian farmers.

The Karo's farmers use the plant as a substitute for water and soap called acem acem (Oxalis dehradunensis Raizada) leaves to clean the direct pesticide exposure at their skin. This study was aimed to determine the effective formula of Oxalis dehradunensis Raizada leaves extract as hand soap gel preparation to remove pesticide residues. The experimental research was conducted to explore the potential of the leaves as an alternative material for pesticide cleaner. It is a pre and post experiment that was tried by 30 farmers from Karo district, Indonesia. The material used fresh Oxalis dehradunensis Raizada leaves, collected from farmer's fields. The extract was gained from the leaves powder was repeatedly extracted by maceration. All farmers used a pesticide with chlorpyrifos content and wash their hands by using handsoap gel extract ethanol Oxalis dehradunensis Raizada formula. The water of the farmer's hand wash was check-in the laboratory for screened phytochemicals. The data were analyzed in quantitative and gas chromatography to find the ability of the extract to remove chlorpyrifos pesticide residues, in the farmer's hand wash water as a qualitative test. The results found that Oxalis dehradunensis Raizada was formulated into hand soap gel could remove chlorpyrifos pesticide residue from hand wash of the farmers. The ability of hand soap gel with Oxalis dehradunensis Raizada concentration of 5% and 7% in binding residue compounds of chlorpyrifos pesticides was considered good. It concluded the Oxalis dehradunensis Raizada leaves are effective to clean the pesticide residues.

Factors Associated with Hand Washing Practices among Secondary School Students in Ndorwa East Constituency in Kabale District

Despite the worldwide Global Hand Washing Day campaign, which targets school children as the most effective agents for behaviour change, there is limited documentation in various school settings. The purpose of the study was to assess the factors associated with hand washing practices among secondary school students in Ndorwa East Constituency in the Kabale district. The study used both quantitative and qualitative methods to collect data from a sample of 291 students from five schools. Results: Of the 291 respondents enrolled, 219(77%) washed their hands after the rest room. Factors associated with a higher likelihood of hand washing practice among secondary school students in Ndorwa East Constituency–Kabale District were being aged <18 years (aOR =8.1, 95%CI: 2.65-21.61, p<0.001), presence of water for hand washing (aOR =50.7,95%CI:11.50-309.38,p<0.001), presence of hand washing stations (aOR=7.3,95%CI:2.72-30.37, p<0.001), and cleanliness of hand washing stations (aOR=70.0,95%CI:10.44-605.6, p<0.001). The factors associated with hand washing practices were presence of water for hand washing, the presence of hand washing stations in schools, cleanliness of hand washing stations. The study suggests that the school administrators should sensitize all students to continue practicing washing hands. This would help in preventing students from diseases associated with poor hand hygiene practices.

Water use behaviors and water access in intermittent and continuous water supply areas during the COVID-19 pandemic.

More than one billion people worldwide receive intermittent water supply (IWS), in which water is delivered through a pipe network for fewer than 24 h/day, limiting the quantity and accessibility of water. During the COVID-19 pandemic, stay-at-home orders and efforts to limit contact with others can affect water access for those with unreliable home water supplies. We explored whether water service delivery and household water-use behaviors changed during the COVID-19 pandemic in Hubballi-Dharwad, India, and whether they differed if households had IWS or continuous (24×7) water supply through a longitudinal household survey in 2020-2021. We found few perceived differences in water service delivery or water access, although one-quarter of all households reported insufficient water for handwashing, suggesting an increased demand for water that was not satisfied. Many households with 24×7 supply reported water outages, necessitating the use of alternative water sources. These findings suggest that water demand at home increased and households with IWS and 24×7 both lacked access to sufficient water. Our findings indicate that water insecurity negatively affected households' ability to adhere to protective public health measures during the COVID-19 pandemic and highlight the importance of access to uninterrupted, on-premise water during public health emergencies.

Evaluation of the Antimicrobial Effectiveness of Ozonated Water for Hand Washing in the Presence of Organic Material Contamination Using the ASTM E2946-13 Standard Test Method

Ozonated water is a possible hand washing alternative to antimicrobial soap and water. In a previous report, 4 ppm of ozonated water removed artificially contaminated bacteria from the hands of healthy volunteers as effectively as antimicrobial or nonantimicrobial soap and water. Currently, there is a lack of data on the efficacy of ozonated water in removing bacteria from hands loaded with organic materials. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of ozonated water in removing bacteria from hands contaminated with organic material, according to the American Society for Testing and Materials E2946-13. Sixteen healthy volunteers were randomly assigned to the ozonated water group and the antimicrobial soap and water group. Their hands were contaminated with an avirulent strain of Escherichia coli in beef broth suspension. Approximately 3-log CFU bacterial reductions between baseline and postwash colonies were observed on the hands in both groups. Ozonated water may remove bacteria from hands contaminated with organic material with similar effectiveness as antimicrobial soap and water.

Safe water supply challenges for hand hygiene in the prevention of COVID-19 in Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People's Region (SNNPR), Ethiopia

BackgroundProper hand hygiene practices are critical in disease prevention and control, including preventing the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, but according to a recent global report, three billion people lack access to basic hand washing facilities (soap and water) at home. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the challenges related to safe and adequate water provision for hand hygiene in the prevention of COVID-19 in Gedeo Zone, SNNPR, Ethiopia. MethodsAn institutional-based cross-sectional study design was used to assess the challenges associated with safe water supply in the prevention of COVID-19 in Gedeo Zone. Simple random sampling was used. The water sector's challenges were assessed using in-depth interviews with key informants. Water samples were collected from hand washing stations using a sterile bottle and the standard tap water sampling procedure. Bacterial analysis was carried out using membrane filtration techniques. The Wagtech Palin test and the Delagua portable water testing kit procedure was used to analyze World Health Organization (WHO) critical physicochemical parameters. ResultThe physicochemical analysis of the sample water from the hand washing facilities reveals that the pH (6.5–8) is within the WHO guideline in all samples except Gedeb town (11.1%). The residual chlorine in the samples was less than 0.2 mg/l, which is below the standard in all towns, but 15.8% of the samples in Wonago town were between 0.2–0.5mg/l. Faecal coliforms were not found in 27.5%, 21.0%, 16.6%, and 40.7% of the samples collected in Dilla, Wonago, Yirgachefe, and Gedeb town, respectively. The remaining samples were all positive for faecal coliforms. Unbalanced demand versus supply, inaccessibility, supply interruptions, financial constraints, a scarcity of competent human resources, a lack of regular water quality assessments, and a lack of stakeholder support were all identified as major challenges by all water sectors of the study towns. The majority of hand washing water samples from all of the study towns were bacteriologically unsafe. The water sector must work hard to ensure that the community has safe drinking water. All responsible bodies and potential stakeholders must support the water sectors in the Gedeo zone.

Factors influencing self-reported adherence to standard precautions among Thai nursing students: A cross sectional study

AimThis study explored nursing students’ compliance with standard precautions (SPs) and attitudes to SPs in Thailand, to identify factors that may increase adherence to SPs and infection prevention and control best practice. BackgroundIn the context of high rates of healthcare associated infections as in Thailand, effective strategies to promote high levels of clinician adherence to SPs is a priority. Nursing students are one group of healthcare workers who play a vital role in caring for patients and constitute the future nursing workforce. DesignA cross-sectional survey design was used. MethodsA self-reported survey comprising the Compliance with Standard Precautions Scale and the Factors Influencing Adherence to Standard Precautions Scale were distributed to nursing students as a Thai paper-based survey. ResultsA total of '533 second' to fourth year nursing students from a tertiary nursing school in Bangkok, Thailand completed the survey. The average nursing student compliance to SPs was 68.5%. Most (91.2%) reported only using water for handwashing and 57.2% reported reuse of surgical masks. The fourth-year students had higher compliance (M=3.90, SD=1.12) on the ‘prevention of cross infection from person-to-person’ dimension while second-year students reported higher compliance on the ‘disposal of sharps’ (M=2.67, SD=0.57) dimension. ‘Contextual Cues’ was identified as the factor (M=3.41, SD=0.40) that had the greatest influence on adherence and ‘Practice Culture’ (M=1.84, SD=0.66) and ‘Justification’ (M = 1.35, SD.68 had the lowest influence. Fourth year students identified ‘Leadership’ (M=2.90, SD=0.49) as an important influence on adherence to SPs. ConclusionsTo increase nursing students’ adherence there needs to be greater emphasis on the importance of SPs in theoretical sessions and regular monitoring and feedback on hand hygiene performance and personal protective equipment use while students are on placements. More visible organizational leadership and promotion of high levels of adherence to SPs may assist students to translate their theoretical knowledge into practice.

Pre- and post-flushing of three schools in Arizona due to COVID-19 shutdown.

A one‐day water sampling and flushing study was conducted for three schools in Maricopa County that experienced prolonged building inactivity due to the COVID‐19 pandemic: an elementary school, middle school, and high school. Grab samples were taken at hand washing sinks, water fountains, and hose bibbs before and after flushing. Samples were analyzed for free chlorine, UVA254, copper, lead, total trihalomethanes, pH, conductivity, temperature, and Legionella species. All three schools experienced an increase in free chlorine post‐flush. Copper concentrations were higher for first draw samples than post‐flush samples for all schools. Conductivity, temperature, and pH did not see a major change after flushing. UVA254 values decreased after flushing. Bromoform species saw a 20% increase after flushing at the elementary school. Legionella spp. did not decrease post‐flush at the elementary school. Overall, flushing changed the water quality at the schools. However, equipment flushing may be necessary to fully remediate Legionella spp.Article Impact StatementProlonged closure of buildings causes water quality issues such as lack of disinfectant and Legionella. Flushing can restore water quality.

Evaluation of Covid-19 Prevention and Control Protocol Compliance Among Pupil’s in Ikenne Local Government Area, Ogun State

In early December 2019, an outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by a novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), occurred in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China. On January 30, 2020 the World Health Organization declared the outbreak as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. On 26th January, President Mohammed Buhari released COVID-19 health. With the emergence of the second wave of COVID-19 parent/guardians, teachers, schools administrators and other stakeholders were to ensure full compliance with all COVID-19 protocols as released by NCDC and Government. Survey research design was used for the study. The population comprised of 481primary school students and teachers in the ten government and private owned primary schools in Ikenne Local Government of Ogun State. Total enumeration sampling technique was adopted. A structured and validated questionnaire was used to collect the data. Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficient for the constructs obtained was 0.893. The response rate was 89%. Data analysis was done using descriptive and inferential statistics. The finding showed that all the respondents were aware of COVID-19. This finding indicated that schools’ comply with Federal Ministry of Education guidelines on schools and learning facilities reopening after COVID-19 closures in Ogun State. The findings of this study revealed that the majority of the pupils had good adherence to COVID-19 prevention protocol as compared with the teachers who had poor compliance to COVID prevention protocol. Relative to other prevention strategies, wearing of facemask was the least implemented measure by the teachers. The findings revealed that the schools faced some of these challenges that hinder the effective implementation of the prevention protocol such as inadequate supply of hand washing soap and water, inadequate supply of hand sanitizers, inadequate classroom, inadequate enforcement of social distance and inadequate cleaning and disinfectant for cleaning of surface objects. Findings concluded that the schools complied with Federal Ministry of Education guidelines on schools and learning facilities reopening after COVID-19 closures in Ogun state, Nigeria to a great extent. The guideline incorporates preventive measures such as hand washing, social distancing, wearing of face masks to contain and minimize the spread of the virus. The compliance to Federal Ministry of Education guidelines on schools and learning facilities reopening after COVID-19 closures is the right direction toward reducing the transmission of the disease.

Effective behavior change in hand hygiene practices among boys residing at foster care home in Bengaluru city: An interventional study

Objective: Handwashing is the best defense against communicable infections due to lack of good personal hygiene practices. The objective of the study is to evaluate the change in knowledge and practice of hand hygiene among the children living in a foster care home of Bengaluru city. Material and Methods: A pre-tested, closed-ended, and structured questionnaire was administered in local language among 98 children, aged 8–16 years, residing in a foster home for boys in Bengaluru city to assess their knowledge and hand hygiene practices before and after a community-based intervention of handwashing technique which was done. Results: The present study showed a significant improvement in knowledge among majority of the children regarding hand hygiene before and after meals, usage of toilet post-intervention. About 96.9% of the children started practicing handwashing using handwash solution and water. Conclusion: Behavior change through communication campaigns improves safe hand hygiene practices on long term.

A cross-sectional study on the pursuit of happiness among healthcare workers in the context of health systems strengthening: The case of Meru County, Kenya.

Background: Happiness is one of the ultimate goals of every human being. Happiness is a significant factor of health system efficiency. Healthcare workers are at the core of every health system. However, up-to-date literature on happiness among healthcare workers is limited. The purpose of this study is to investigate the factors influencing the self-assessed happiness among healthcare workers in public and mission hospitals in Meru County, Kenya. Methods: Using a cross-sectional design, a total of 553 healthcare workers in 24 hospitals completed the Orientations to Happiness questionnaire between June and July 2020. Results: Healthcare workers’ overall happiness was significantly different between hospitals of public and mission ownership (p<0.05). The orientations to happiness mean scores of both pursuits of pleasure and meaning were significantly different between public and mission hospitals (p<0.05). However, there were no statistically significant differences in the pursuit of engagement among the healthcare workers between public and mission hospitals (p<0.05). In both public and mission hospitals, income and the type of toiletry facility were significant factors of overall happiness (p<0.05 or p<0.1). In mission hospitals, eight more variables were statistically significant factors of overall happiness namely type of employment, occurrence of water unavailability, safe drinking water, acceptable main source of water, type of toiletry facility, hospital disposal of garbage, availability of water for hand washing, and overall safety of the hospital working environment (p<0.05 or p<0.1). In public hospitals, additional statistically significant factors of overall happiness were qualification level, and a functional workplace safety and health committee (p<0.05 or p<0.1). Conclusion: Demographic, work-related, and physical work environment factors significantly contribute to healthcare workers overall happiness in both mission and public hospitals. The findings present possible areas of focus for policy and practical implications related to healthcare workers’ happiness aimed at health workforce and health systems strengthening in Kenya.

Evaluation of Household Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Management in a Nigerian Rural Community

The Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) disparities between the rural and urban areas have hindered the Sustainable Development Goal 6. Recent data is required in our bid to tackle this menace effectively. This study aimed to provide data on the status of household WASH facilities in a remote village in Southwestern Nigeria. The survey was cross-sectional in design, and total sampling was used to select 70 household respondents. Data were obtained via observational checklists, questionnaire, and key informant interview guide. Data was entered and analyzed using SPSS 20. Descriptive statistics like measures of frequency and proportions were used. The respondents had a mean age of 43.1 ± 16.4 years, only 2.9% had tertiary education. The village had two handpump boreholes provided by the Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Reform Programme (WSSSRP)-II. All the respondents reported that the boreholes were their primary drinking water source, and water was available all through the year. In over 80% of households, females were assigned the duty to fetch water, while most households had the boreholes within 30 minutes from their houses. The sanitation facilities were also provided via the WSSSRP-II. The majority (90%) of the respondents owned pit latrine with slab, of which only 10% shared their facilities with other households. Most (95.7%) of the respondents still practised open defecation at instances they could not access their household latrines. All the toilets had water for handwashing, and the soap commonly used by community members was palm kernel ash. The condition of water and sanitation in the village was quite progressive. However, subsequent interventions should ensure toilet facilities are available in non-household settings like farms and markets.

Assessment of the Knowledge and Practice of Handwashing among Healthcare Workers in a Tertiary Hospital in Ekiti, Southwestern Nigeria

Background: The most common means of transmission of Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAIs) is the contaminated hand of Healthcare Workers (HCWs), proper handwashing by HCWs is the best method of halting this transmission, however, there is poor adherence to the practice of the simple handwashing procedure in many health facilities.
 Aims: To assess the knowledge and practice of proper handwashing, to identify the factors impeding adherence to its good practice among HCWs and to identify the handwashing and hand drying facilities available to these HCWs.
 Study Design: This is a descriptive cross-sectional study.
 Place and Duration of Study: The study was carried out at Federal Teaching Hospital, Ido-Ekiti (FETHI), Southwestern Nigeria between July 2020 and December 2020.
 Methods: The study involved 328 randomly selected HCWs. Data was collected using pretested self administered questionnaires, entered into Microsoft Excel 2016 and analyzed by SPSS version 23.
 Results: Only 31.10% of respondents had good knowledge of handwashing while 80.18% had good practice of handwashing. Longer stay in service and being a doctor or nurse were associated with good knowledge and good practice of handwashing. Only 16.46% of respondents had previous training on handwashing within 3 years prior to this study. Previous training on handwashing was associated with good knowledge of handwashing (P=.001). Up to 68.60% of respondents used stored water and soap for handwashing. The most common hand drying facility reported in the study was common towel, no respondent ever used paper towel. The most common reason given for poor adherence to handwashing practices was the busy schedule.
 Conclusion: Hospital managers must prioritize the regular provision of handwashing and hand drying facilities for their centre, in addition to organizing regular hand hygiene training for HCWs, to improve their knowledge and practice of handwashing and thus reduce the rate of HAIs

Healthy Lifestyle Practice among a Selected Rural Community of Sirajganj District

Background: Healthy lifestyle is one which helps keeping and improving health and well-being. This means maintaining hygiene, eating balanced diet, getting regular exercise, avoiding tobacco and drugs and getting adequate rest and recreation. Objective(s): To assess healthy lifestyle practice among selected rural-community of Sirajganj district.
 Materials and methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among people living in selected villages of Sirajganj. A total of 490 respondents were interviewed face-to-face using a semi-structured questionnaire.
 Results: Among the respondents 73.3% were female, mean age was 40.29 ± 15.84 years and 56.9% were literates. Mean monthly income was 10812.30±10039.63 taka. Majority (97.3%) said that they wash their hands 'before eating', 89.0% said 'after coming from washroom', 18.6% mentioned of 'after coming in contact with sick person', 3.9% said 'after playing and 3.1% mentioned of 'after holding coins'. About 84% used soap and water for hand washing. One third (33.9%) washed their hands for a period of more than 20 seconds. About 28% consume meat, fish, and egg daily. Majority (77.8%) consumed extra salt daily, 81.8% never took part in playing of doing exercises and 9.8% were current smokers.
 Conclusion: Subjects were ruralpeople and showed lack of many elements of healthy lifestyle. Proportion of tobacco-use was less. Yet a big proportion consumes extra salt, don't do any exercise, don't eat fruits and cannot eat protein rich food.
 KYAMC Journal Vol. 11, No.-4, January 2021, Page 193-198

Effectiveness of Mass Media Campaigns to Improve Handwashing-Related Behavior, Knowledge, and Practices in Rural Bangladesh.

ABSTRACTWater, sanitation, and handwashing interventions that use intensive interpersonal communication improve targeted behaviors, but are expensive at scale. Mass media is an alternative that could reach more people at lower cost but has rarely been rigorously evaluated. We assessed the effectiveness of a mass media campaign in improving handwashing knowledge and practices in rural Bangladesh. We conducted a cross-sectional assessment before the campaign among 8,947 households and again after 4 months of the campaign among 8,400 different households in the same areas. Trained enumerators conducted spot checks of water, sanitation, and hygiene facilities, and recorded reported knowledge and practices. We compared these outcomes after versus before the campaign using generalized linear models with robust standard errors. After the media campaign, caregivers were more likely to recall ≥ 3 messages regarding handwashing (prevalence ratio [PR] = 1.44, 1.34–1.55), sanitation (PR = 1.45, 1.35–1.55), and safe water (PR = 1.17, 1.08–1.26). After the campaign, the prevalence of using soap and water during handwashing demonstrations was higher among caregivers (PR = 1.15, 1.12–1.19) and children (PR = 1.31, 1.22–1.41). Hands were more commonly observed to be visibly clean among caregivers (PR = 1.14, 1.07–1.20) and children (PR = 1.13, 1.05–1.21). Soap and water was more commonly observed in handwashing stations near latrines (PR = 1.12, 1.06–1.19) and in cooking/eating places (PR = 1.09, 1.01–1.18). Our findings indicate improved handwashing knowledge and behaviors following a mass media campaign. This promising approach can be deployed to improve water, sanitation, and hygiene practices at scale and should be evaluated in other contexts.

Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Hand Washing Process and Water Consumption

World Health Organization suggested many ways to protect from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), such as maintaining a safe distance from others, wearing a mask, avoiding touching eyes, nose, or mouth, staying at home, cleaning/washing hands often, and using soap and water or an alcohol-based hand rub. Thus, water and alcohol-based handwashing were frequently used since the pandemic. Therefore, this research aimed to compare the amount of water used before and during COVID-19. Similarly, using the alcohol-based cleaning will be evaluated during the COVID-19 and before that. Several questions were prepared and sent to the participants using technology. This study found that the number of handwashing and the duration of the washing hand increased by 85.34% and 101.92% respectively, which means water used for handwashing was doubled after the spread of the coronavirus. Correspondingly, clean and sanitizers like gel and alcohol were used more as well.

Predictors of Health-Related Quality of Life among Healthcare Workers in the Context of Health System Strengthening in Kenya.

Kenya is among the countries with an acute shortage of skilled health workers. There have been recurrent health worker strikes in Kenya due to several issues, some of which directly or indirectly affect their health. The purpose of this study was to investigate the predictors of health-related quality of life (HRQOL) among healthcare workers in public and mission hospitals in Meru County, Kenya. A cross-sectional study design was undertaken among 553 healthcare workers across 24 hospitals in Meru County. The participants completed the EuroQol-five dimension-five level (EQ-5D-5L) instrument, which measures health status across five dimensions and the overall self-assessment of health status on a visual analogue scale (EQ-VAS). Approximately 66.55% of the healthcare workers reported no problems (i.e., 11,111) across the five dimensions. The six predictors of HRQOL among the healthcare workers were hospital ownership (p < 0.05), age (p < 0.05), income (p < 0.01), availability of water for handwashing (p < 0.05), presence of risk in using a toilet facility (p < 0.05), and overall safety of hospital work environment (p < 0.05). Personal, job-related attributes and work environment characteristics are significant predictors of healthcare workers HRQOL. Thus, these factors ought to be considered by health policymakers and managers when developing and implementing policies and programs aimed at promoting HRQOL among healthcare workers.

Pattern, predictors and clustering of handwashing practices in India.

Research on handwashing continues to draw researchers' interest owing to its public health importance and significance in the reduction of infectious diseases. The aims of this study are to: (1) understand the pattern and predictors of handwashing using soap/detergent and water; and (2) assess the spatial clustering of handwashing through soap/detergent and water at the district level in India. Data of households where the place for handwashing was observed by the research investigators (n = 582,064), gathered through the National Family Health Survey-4 (2015-2016), were used for this analysis. The availability of soap/detergent and water at the usual place of handwashing was assumed to be used for handwashing. Binary logistic regression was carried out to examine the adjusted effect of socioeconomic characteristics on the use of soap/detergent and water for handwashing. The univariate local indicator of spatial association (LISA) cluster map and Moran's I statistics were applied for assessing spatial autocorrelations at the district level. Analyses were carried out with IBM-SPSS Software. Two-fifths of Indian households do not use both soap/detergent and water for handwashing. Households using both the cleansing elements vary considerably by socioeconomic characteristics- worse for the socioeconomically disadvantaged groups. There is spatial clustering in the use of soap/detergent and water for handwashing: lower in a cluster of districts in eastern India. Results suggest the need to generate awareness, particularly among the socioeconomically weaker populations, about advantages of hand hygiene, which will reduce the prevalence of infectious diseases like COVID-19 and be helpful to achieve many Sustainable Development Goals.