According to the World Health Organization, maintaining hand hygiene is one of the effective ways in preventing diseases like COVID-19, common cold, diarrhea etc. “Good” hand washing techniques includes using an adequate amount of soap, rubbing the hands together to create friction for at least 20 seconds, and rinsing under running water. Wearing gloves is not a substitute for washing your hands, and hand washing is often required before and after wearing gloves.

Feces (poop) from people or animals is an important source of germs like Salmonella, E. coli O157, and norovirus that cause diarrhea, and it can spread some respiratory infections like adenovirus and hand-foot-mouth disease. These kinds of germs can get onto hands after people use the toilet or change a diaper, but also in less obvious ways, like after handling raw meats that have invisible amounts of animal poop on them. A single gram of human feces—which is about the weight of a paper clip—can contain one trillion germs  Germs can also get onto hands if people touch any object that has germs on it because someone coughed or sneezed on it or was touched by some other contaminated object. When these germs get onto hands and are not washed off, they can be passed from person to person and make people sick.

While it is true that some pathogens are not destroyed by regular soap and water, those that survive are surrounded by the soap molecules and are washed away in the rinse water. Antibacterial soaps are typically considered to be unnecessary for most purposes. The exception may be in a hospital where situations are present (e.g., before invasive procedures, when caring for immuno-compromised patients, critical care areas, intensive care nurseries, etc.). Antibacterial agents should be chosen carefully based on their active ingredients and characteristics, and when persistent antibacterial or antimicrobial activity on the hands is desired. When there is no soap or water available, one alternative is to use hand sanitizers or waterless hand scrubs.

Preventing sickness reduces the amount of antibiotics people use and the likelihood that antibiotic resistance will develop. Handwashing can prevent about 30% of diarrhea-related sicknesses and about 20% of respiratory infections (e.g., colds). Antibiotics often are prescribed unnecessarily for these health issues 14. Reducing the number of these infections by washing hands frequently helps prevent the overuse of antibiotics—the single most important factor leading to antibiotic resistance around the world. Handwashing can also prevent people from getting sick with germs that are already resistant to antibiotics and that can be difficult to treat.