Travelers’ hygiene too often a washout

Most Americans say they wash their hands in public restrooms, but a survey by observers posted in airport facilities revealed that only 78% of travelers actually lather up.

Sponsored by the American Society for Microbiology, the survey found that the least hygienic travelers were at JFK International Airport in New York; more than 30% of them didn’t wash their hands after using restrooms. Nearly that many (27%) didn’t stop to wash their hands in Chicago.

The most germ-conscious might be in Toronto, Canada, where a SARS outbreak occurred earlier this year. There, the majority (97%) washed their hands in the restroom. Those seen in the Dallas/Fort Worth airport were nearly as hygienic as those in Toronto: 92% of those passing through the Texas airport washed their hands.

Women appear to be more conscientious than men. In the survey of 7,836 adults, 83% of women washed their hands.

Hand-washing after sneezing or coughing, changing a diaper, using the bathroom and handling food could control the spread of infection, according to the organization, from the common cold to such very serious viruses as SARS.

Although the survey showed there is still a gap between what people say they do and their behavior, the society’s ongoing Take Action: Clean Hands Campaign might be working. The stats on hand-washing have improved since 1996, when a survey showed that only 68% of people were actually seen at the sink.

The survey was released last week at an American Society of Microbiology meeting in Chicago which focused on infectious diseases.