Actress Christine Bell posted the following six photos on her Instagram account. The eye-opening photos show how regular hand washing is way different than washing well with soap when it comes to disinfecting the hands.
Christine’s mother took these pictures at different stages of handwashing. Mineral oil is applied to make the germs glow when viewed under ultraviolet light.
The amount of glow indicates the number of bacteria and possible pathogens residing on the hand. It can be clearly seen in the first picture that the hand is littered with bacteria prior to washing. So, here is how things progressed:
Picture-1: Bacteria reside the hand in their hundreds of thousands before washing.
Picture-2: Rinsing and rubbing do nothing good in eliminating the possible pathogens.
Picture-3: Washing hands for at least 6 seconds without soap eliminated only 10 percent of the bacteria.
Picture-4: A 6 second-hand washing with soap eliminated over 65 percent of the bacteria.
Picture-5: Washing hands for 15 seconds with soap destroyed over 80 percent of the bacteria.
Picture-6: A full 30 second-hand washing with soap eliminated over 90 percent of the germs.
The proper way of washing hands
The only thing I was able to learn quickly as a baby was hand washing, and here I am at 28, learning it all over again. This damn little virus! I am afraid if a bacteria comes tomorrow and proves me wrong in maths_my favorite subject as an engineer.
The following infographic demonstrates the proper way of washing hands recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Please share this awareness message with others including your loved ones!