Handwashing in averting infectious diseases: Relevance to COVID-19.
After officially declared as a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO), drastic measures to restrict human movements to contain the COVID-19 infection are employed by most of the countries. Maintaining high personal hygiene by frequent handwashing and be vigilant of clinical signs are widely recommended to reduce the disease burden. The national and international health agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the WHO, have provided guidelines for prevention and treatment suggestions. Here, in this brief article, based on available clinical information, the author discusses why handwashing could be protective of COVID-19 infections. Although a detailed and in-depth discussion of various preventive and protective measures is beyond the scope of this article, this review will focus on the utility of frequent handwashing in minimizing the risk of spreading COVID-19 infection.
['Haque|Mainul|M|']
D000086382:COVID-19 D018352:Coronavirus Infections D017408:Guidelines as Topic D006235:Hand Disinfection D006801:Humans D017053:Infection Control D058873:Pandemics D011024:Pneumonia, Viral
handwashing hygiene acute gastroenteritis acute respiratory tract infection behavior change children community decontamination hand hygiene hand sanitizer health education influenza influenza infection influenza transmission low- and middle-income countries respiratory illness