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<DIV>In they Navy they teach you not to pee on your hands!</DIV>
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<DIV>Dick Schmidt</DIV>
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<TD><FONT class=headline>Women's Hands Cleaner Than Men, Study
Says<BR></FONT><FONT class=date>Sep 21 2:40 PM US/Eastern</FONT></TD>
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<P><FONT class=byline>By LAURAN NEERGAARD<BR></FONT><FONT class=byline>AP
Medical Writer<BR></FONT>
<P><FONT class=date>WASHINGTON<BR></FONT>
<P><FONT class=story>Men are dirtier than women. So scientists confirmed by
spying in public restrooms, watching as one-quarter of men left without washing
their hands.
<P>The worst offenders were at an Atlanta Braves game.
<P>In contrast, 90 percent of the women did wash up.
<P>Wednesday's results mark the American Society of Microbiology's latest look
at how many people take what is considered the single easiest step to staying
healthy: spending 20 seconds rubbing with soap under the faucet.
<P>It also explains why these infection experts tend to use paper towels to open
bathroom doors. There is no telling what germs the person before you left on the
knob.
<P>"It's a gamble," said microbiologist Judy Daly of Primary Children's Medical
Center in Salt Lake City, the society's secretary.
<P>Back in 1996, the society first studied how often people follow mom's advice
to always wash up after using the toilet. Researchers lingered in public
restrooms, putting on makeup or combing their hair, while surreptitiously
counting. They concluded about one-third of people did not wash.
<P>The group sponsored an education campaign about how hand-washing can stop the
spread of flu, diarrhea and other infectious diseases. Every few years,
researchers repeat the spying.
<P>This time, 83 percent of people washed, reported Harris Interactive, a
research company that last month monitored more than 6,300 public restroom users
for the society.
<P>That is a little better overall. But take a closer look:
<P>_The worst hygiene was at Atlanta's Turner Field baseball stadium, where 37
percent of men left the bathroom without washing, and 16 percent of the women
did.
<P>_New York's Penn Station had the biggest gender disparity, where 64 percent
of men washed their hands compared with 92 percent of women. Grand Central
Station was almost as bad.
<P>_The best hygiene was at San Francisco's Ferry Terminal Farmers Market and
Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry and Shedd Aquarium, where only about 12
percent of people left without washing.
<P>People exaggerate about hygiene. A Harris telephone survey of 1,000 more
adults found 91 percent insisted they wash in public restrooms. Additionally, 77
percent claimed to always wash before handling or eating food, and 32 percent
after coughing or sneezing.
<P>It is hard to double-check the latter claims. But the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention says poor hand-washing contributes to almost half of all
foodborne disease outbreaks.
<P>With influenza season approaching, microbiologists warn that it is easy to
catch a cold or the flu by shaking hands with someone who just used that hand to
cover a sneeze. The viruses can stay alive for two hours on hands, and for 20
minutes on hard, dry surfaces those germy hands touch.
<P>So sneeze into your elbow instead and wash frequently. There is no need for
special anti-bacterial cleansers, Daly said, although alcohol-based hand gels
can substitute when soap's not available. </P></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>