UNITED KINGDOM: More than one in four British commuters have faecal bacteria on their hands

Record ID: 575094

  • Title: UNITED KINGDOM: More than one in four British commuters have faecal bacteria on their hands
  • Date: 18th October 2008
  • Summary: (L!2) LONDON, ENGLAND, UK (FILE) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF LONDON UNDERGROUND TUBE TRAINS AND PASSENGERS
  • Embargoed: 2nd November 2008 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: United Kingdom
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Topics: Health,Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
  • Reuters ID: LVAD40R8ZZRRVXOHOXU5ACFOGT80
  • Story Text: Thousands of workers are not the only living things travelling on British buses and trains on the daily commute - nasty toilet bacteria is along for the ride too.
    More than one in four commuters have faecal bacteria on their hands, doctors at London's School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine have found.
    They swabbed the hands of 409 people across England and Wales and found that 28 percent of travellers had contaminated hands.
    The results shocked Director of the Hygiene Centre, Dr. Val Curtis: "We thought we were going to find just a few commuters who had got a few bugs on their hands, but actually we were amazed to find that more than one in four people that we took swabs from actually had bugs that came from the gut on their hands, so toilet bugs on their hands," she said.
    Toilet bugs on hands can spread diseases such as the norovirus, or winter vomiting virus, which is on the rise in the U.K. It is estimated up to one million Britons are affected each year.
    Faecal bacteria can survive on surfaces anything from a couple of hours to several days, depending on the type of bug and climate.
    Calling hands the "super highway" for transmitting germs, Curtis hopes her research will shock people into reaching for the soap.

    "Everytime you wash your hands with soap you are getting rid of billions of bacteria and it's certainly a thing that's worth doing regularly during the day, especially the toilet and before you eat," she said.
    Eighty percent of respondents claimed they always wash their hands with soap after using the toilet, but the findings appear to question their honesty.

    "When people say they wash their hands with soap it tends to mean in principle I wash my hands with soap," said Curtis.
    A a bus stop in central London, some passengers were appalled at the high levels of bacteria found.

    "It does horrify me to think you get on the bus and you know, 'that's' there," said Sue Carr.

    "Now it's making me think twice. It seems like now wherever I go I will have to take an extra tissue or something," Parul Husna said.
    Male passengers seemed less surprised at the lack of hygiene levels of their fellow passengers. After gentle questioning, some acknowledged that they were not always stringent with their own hand washing.
    After initially declaring that he always washes his hands, grandparent Jim Shakeshift then sheepishly admitted, "Well, say nine times out of ten....Well, normally yeah."

    "I do yeah. Not always with soap but I do wash my hands yeah," said Adam Cromby.
    Passengers aware of the high levels of bacteria had different methods of dealing with it.
    Jordan Huie said when he visits a public toilet, "When I open the door to the toilet I will try and hold the area where no-one else would hold because I know people don't wash their hands."
    Mother of a baby, Lindsay Jorgensen, said she never goes anywhere without her anti-bacterial spray.

    "Give it a little spray on my hands when I get off the bus because when you've got kids you can't afford to have dirty hands."
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