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Have good home hygiene
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e generally use the term “cleaning” to refer to the things which we do to make our homes, etc. and ourselves “visibly clean”. For most of us, living in “clean” and visually pleasing surroundings contributes to our feelings of well being. Whilst cleaning of surfaces will remove a significant proportion of the good and bad bacteria on a surface as well as the visible dirt, it can leave behind microbes on that surface which, although small in number and invisible to the eye, can be enough to cause infection if they are harmful species and if they are transferred via the hands to the mouth, eyes etc., or to food.
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We tend to rely on “dirt and bad smells” to tell us when something in our homes is “unhygienic”. In general, however, the types of bacteria and fungi which e.g. make food “go bad” are different from those that cause disease. If a toilet, sink, U-bend or a cleaning cloth smells, we think it must be full of germs. This is not necessarily the case; the microbes that cause smells are usually ones that are non-harmful. Nevertheless, when there are enough microbes on a cloth to cause it to smell, it is more likely that germs may also be present. If raw food smells, this is also a good indicator that, if there are any germs on the food, they too will have multiplied and could cause food poisoning. Contrary to perception, dirt and dust on the floor or other surfaces is less likely than an apparently clean but damp dishcloth to contain germs, because germs do not survive well on dry surfaces.
On the other hand, even when surfaces look and smell clean, it does not mean that germs are not present. Similarly food which has passed its sell-by date, may not look or smell bad, but can still be heavily contaminated with food-poisoning germs.
Targeted hygiene recognizes that good hygiene is not about trying to eliminate all the germs from our homes. It is not a “once weekly deep down clean” when things look dirty. It needs to be an ongoing part of our daily lives where hygiene measures are targeted only where and when necessary.
The popular television programs which focus on some people’s “unhygienic” living situations can be misleading because they focus on getting rid of “visible dirt”, making the assumption that cleaning and hygiene are the same thing. Being clean is important for our sense of health and well being, but, as discussed above, preventing the spread of infection through specific ongoing actions such as handwashing or food hygiene or laundering of clothing is quite different from daily or weekly cleaning – its about our daily practices and habits which protect us from exposure top germs such as good food hygiene, good respiratory hygiene – and handwashing at key times.
International Scientific Forum on Home Hygiene Have good home hygiene W
