Hands, Hands, Everywhere

Life in campus residence halls can be a little scary from a health educator's perspective. It seems we hear a lot about the spread of illness and disease in settings like hospitals and nursing homes, but what about college residence halls? The truth is that dorm living can be a health risk in much the same way. Residents in a dorm spread bacteria and viruses through common use of many everyday items:

• sinks
• toilets
• showers
• kitchens
• door handles
• railings
• computers
• refrigerators
• pool/ping pong tables
• washing machines and dryers
• board games
• lounge furniture
• light switches
• buttons on AC units and TVs
• video game controllers

Earlier this year my residence hall had an outbreak of the flu. The Hall Director surveyed Student Advisors and residents and confirmed over 40 cases of the illness (which included bouts of intense vomiting and diarrhea). As the Hall Director counted the students who were down with the flu, she noticed a trend. Many of the cases were concentrated among students that shared a common bathroom, and students on one wing of the third floor and one wing of the fourth floor were hit the hardest. The CDC warns that insufficient handwashing after using the bathroom can lead to the spread of viral infections. Though our Hall Director's research was not part of a controlled study, the data still seems to support the hypothesis that improper handwashing, especially after bathroom use, can spread infection quickly throughout a community.

When living in close quarters with anywhere from 70 to 700 other people in one building, a dorm resident has the potential to be exposed to numerous pathogens. Even a student that washes his or her own hands properly and on a regular basis may be exposed to bacteria and viruses because of the poor hand hygiene of others living in their community.

The good news is that much of the illness that spreads within residence halls can be prevented with proper handwashing! Washing your hands only takes 20-30 seconds and requires little skill. Though this solution might seem too easy to be true, handwashing actually has a significant effect on stopping the spread of infectious disease. The CDC has proven the benefits of handwashing through studies in hospitals and third-world slums. It is about time we put this knowledge to good use in the dorms! So wash your hands and tell your roommates, suitemates, and other friends to do the same! For more information, visit www.cdc.gov/cleanhands.

-Emily Eschbacher