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STATS AND FACTS
- A study by the University of Colorado's Biochemistry lab concluded that there are on average 150 species of bacteria on a person's hands at any given moment. (There are a total of 4,742 different varieties of bacteria.)
- According to Centers for Disease Control, the single most important thing we can do to keep from getting sick and spreading illness to others is to clean our hands. (CDC)
- Nearly 22 million school days are lost due to the common cold alone. Some viruses and bacteria can live from 20 minutes up to 2 hours or more on surfaces like cafeteria tables, doorknobs, and desks. (CDC)
- 52.2 million cases of the common cold affect Americans under the age of 17 each year. (CDC)
- Students don't wash their hands often or well. In one study, only 58% of female and 48% of male and high school students washed their hands after using the bathroom. (American Journal of Infection Control)
- A study of Detroit school children showed that scheduled hand washing, at least four times a day, can reduce gastrointestinal illness and related absences by more than 50%. (Family Medicine)
- The CDC estimates that 5% to 20% of Americans contract the influenza virus annually. This leads to 200,000 hospitalizations and 36,000 deaths. (CDC)
- Each year employees miss a staggering 70 million work days due to the flu virus. The indirect costs? Between $3 billion to $12 billion a year. (Web MD Health)
- Research out of the University of Arizona found that telephones desks, water fountain handles, microwave door handles, and computer keyboards are the most common spots that transfer large amounts of the germs that cause colds and influenza in the work place.
- According to a study by Web MD Health women have the germiest offices. They sampled eight sites in each office: the phone, desktop, computer mouse, computer keyboard, exclamation key on the computer keyboard, pen, bottom of desk drawer, and handle of desk drawer. Those samples showed twice as much bacteria in women's offices as in men's. (Web MD Health)
- The top three places for germs to exist on women's personal items are make up case, phone and purse. For men wallets, PDA's and phones round out the top three.
- The Clorox Company funded a study that reported that in a study of nine office-based jobs, teachers had the germiest workspaces and lawyers had the least germy offices.
- Nursing ward staff take more sick days than most other public sector workers, according to figures in a report by the UK Healthcare Commission. On average, 16.8 days per ward staff member a year are lost to sickness.The figures are based on a major survey covering 135,000 hospital ward staff in 6,000 hospital wards.
- According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics within the education and health services sector, the absence rate for the health care and social assistance industry was 4.2 percent. The manufacturing and transportation and utilities sectors both had absence rates of 3.1 percent. Wholesale and retail trade and information both had absence rates of 3.0 percent. All other industry sectors in private industry had absence rates lower than 3.0 percent
- A study of 5,810 hospitals performed by the Chicago Tribune, found an estimated 103,000 deaths linked to hospital infections in 2000. The study also found that 75,000 of those cases were transmitted in preventable situations. A similar study by the CDC of 250 hospitals recorded 90,000 incidents; however, the CDC does not classify any infection as preventable.
- Since 1995, the investigation showed, 75% of all U.S. hospitals have been cited for serious cleanliness and sanitation violations. (Los Angeles Times)
- According to a study performed by the University of Colorado's Biochemistry lab, women on average have more bacteria on their hands then men. Although, no conclusions have been made as to the cause of this statistic, researchers feel it has to do with the oil gland production, frequency of moisturizer or cosmetic applications, skin thickness and hormone production.
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