How can cleanliness prevent the spreading of germs

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Cleanliness in the community (sanitation), cleanliness in the home, and personal cleanliness are all important to prevent these sicknesses by stopping the spread of germs.

For example:

• A man infected with parasites has diarrhea outside.
• A pig eats the man’s stool.
• One of the man’s children plays with the pig and gets stool on himself.
• Later, the child starts to cry and his mother comforts him and cleans his fingers with her skirt. She also gets stool on her hands.
• The busy mother prepares food for the family without washing her hands first. She uses her skirt to keep from burning her hands, forgetting that it was not clean.
• The family eats the food. Soon everyone has diarrhea.

If the family had used any of these precautions, the spread of illness could have been prevented:

• if the man had used a latrine or toilet.
• if the pig had not been allowed to run free.
• if the mother had not used her skirt to wipe the child’s hands and then touch the food.
• if the mother had washed her hands after touching her child and before preparing food.

Sources

• Burns, A. A., Niemann, S., Lovich, R., Maxwell, J., & Shapiro, K. (2014). Where women have no doctor: A health guide for women. Hesperian Foundation.
• Audiopedia ID: en010105