Microbiological methods for assessing handwashing practice in hygiene behaviour studies

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Microbiology
• Environmental Health

Background:

• Personal hygiene, particularly handwashing, is crucial for preventing diarrhoeal diseases in water and sanitation programs.
• Assessing handwashing practices is challenging, but microbiological analysis of hands shows potential as a behavioral indicator.
• Existing methods for hand bacteria isolation are often designed for hospital settings, not for resource-limited developing countries where diarrhoeal diseases are prevalent.

Purpose of the Study:

• To discuss techniques for sampling hands and bacteriological analysis suitable for developing countries.
• To identify reliable, inexpensive, and low-expertise methods for assessing hand hygiene.
• To evaluate the role of hands in diarrhoeal disease transmission and hygiene behavior.

Main Methods:

• Review of techniques for hand sampling and bacteriological analysis.
• Emphasis on practical considerations for implementation in developing countries.
• Use of impression plates for isolating faecal indicator bacteria.

Main Results:

• Microbiological analysis of hands is a promising indicator of handwashing behavior.
• Impression plates are recommended for isolating faecal indicator bacteria from hands.
• Faecal streptococci are suggested as an effective indicator of fecal contamination on hands.

Conclusions:

• Reliable and inexpensive microbiological methods are needed for assessing hand hygiene in developing countries.
• Impression plate techniques using faecal streptococci can effectively indicate fecal contamination and aid in diarrhoeal disease prevention efforts.
• Understanding hygiene behavior and its link to diarrhoeal disease transmission is enhanced by microbiological hand analysis.