Handwashing is not just for coronavirus – how good hygiene could help reduce antibiotic use

One in six mobile phones have faecal matter on them. Globally, people wash their hands after using the toilet roughly one in five times. An office work station has 400 times more microbes than a toilet seat.

Improved everyday hygiene practices not only slow the spread of COVID-19, they also play a crucial role in reducing the risk of common infections and driving down antibiotic use. Home and community hygiene needs to be included as part of plans to reduce hundreds of thousands of deaths a year from antimicrobial resistance (AMR), according to a new paper developed on behalf of the Global Hygiene Council.

According to the paper, between November 2019 and March 2020 there were 16,500 deaths linked to SARS-CoV-2; in this same time 258,000 people would have died as a result of AMR.

Clean water, sanitation and targeted hygiene can significantly reduce the circulation of resistant bacteria in homes and communities, irrespective of a country’s overall social and economic development, the authors say. And while much of the focus on targeting AMR has been on measures by healthcare providers, there needs to be a reduction in the community. “We cannot allow hygiene in home and everyday life settings to become the weak link in the chain,” says the paper.

Home hygiene steps

Handwashing is one of the simplest and most effective ways available to prevent disease. Hands are the main carriers of harmful germs, and washing them with soap reduces the risk of diarrheal diseases by almost half.

While many pathogenic organisms die quickly, particularly on dry surfaces, there are others, including rhinovirus – the cause of the common cold – and norovirus – which causes diarrhea and vomiting – which survive longer. Places like kitchen sinks, sponges and cloths, which are often damp, can provide a breeding ground.

There are also certain household activities which are particularly likely to be linked to harmful microbial spread including food handling, using the toilet, changing nappies, doing laundry, caring for pets and disposing of rubbish.

Stopping the spread

Following basic cleanliness practices and limiting disease spread will enable doctors to cut back on antibiotic use and slow the development of drug-resistant strains. This resistance has developed largely as a result of over-prescribing and misuse of antibiotics, amplified by their use in farming. Poor hygiene allows resistant strains to multiply and spread.

Antibiotic resistance has been identified as one of the biggest threats to global health, with a growing number of infections such as pneumonia, gonorrhea and salmonellosis becoming harder to treat as a result.