“Gesundheid!”

When someone sneezes next to you, your first response may be, “Bless you” or, “Gesundheid” (especially if you are German), meaning, health.

It’s simple sneeze etiquette to respond in this way.

If this sneeze scenario occurs with a work colleague, a friendly response is de rigueur. If the person sneezing does so constantly throughout the day, you might put some distance between you and the person, or suggest they take some time off work, particularly if you know they are contagious.

But what about when your toilet sneezes?

???

That’s right. According to studies conducted in 1975 and 2005 loo flushing produces a vapour, like a sneeze and can be just as contagious.

• One toilet flush produces a cloud containing bacteria and viruses that remains airborne for at least 12 minutes and up to two hours, and travels six to eight feet up and out from the toilet, settling on surfaces throughout the bathroom.

• A government article linking toilet flushing to the spread of disease suggested that aside from coughing and sneezing, flushing the loo,

“must be the most common process involved in the generation of infectious aerosols.”

• Fallout of vicious vapors onto bathroom surfaces is a concern because of the risk of self-infection by hand to mouth/nose contact. One study traced the spread of Shigella (a diarrhoea causing organism) in a nursery school to contaminated toilet surfaces.

• One study cited that the size of the vapor particles produced by the flushing toilet was in the range that was capable of reaching the lower respiratory tract.

• “Pathogenic faecal contaminants [aka, poo] such as E-coli and Salmonella have been isolated from the respiratory tract of infected humans.”

Brings a whole new meaning to, Eau de Toilet.

Surgeons and physicians are aware of this problem—I know because several friends of mine are in the medical field. After reading about this taboo toilet feature, I polled a few of them and asked how they deal with it. The first response was typically,

“Make sure you have a good cleaning service!”

Usually followed by,

“Flush and run!”

Or, as one casualty doctor pointed out with a grin,

“I perform BFR,”

(a play on the resuscitation term, CPR)

“Breathe, Flush, Run. BFR! Hold your breath, flush, then get out fast. Oh, and closing the lid might help too.”

Having said that, closing the lid doesn’t make all that much difference either because the same amount of bacteria escape through the gaps, though it does buy you some time to escape the cubicle.

This knowledge opened up a whole new world of germ theory fear for me, a committed germaphobe. The studies mentioned above pertain to corporate, shared bathrooms (as yet, there are insufficient studies on household loos) and suggest cross infection arises from cases of vomiting and diarrhoea.

Using communal toilets in the workplace means that you can’t avoid this sort of thing without becoming dangerously dehydrated, or developing tummy ache from not going.

Fortunately, we offer a superior contract cleaning service. This is a must. When you share your loo you want to know that the area is in the hands of a team of contract cleaners who know about “The Loo Sneeze” and the importance of cleaning the whole area thoroughly, with products that are effective and safe (we worry about the environment too).

And, of course,

“Always, always, always wash your hands, with soap!”

Doctor’s orders.

A document produced by the NHS Wales states that high standards of cleanliness are necessary to help reduce the risk of cross-infection. However, there is more to having a clean clinic than just keeping the authorities happy.

Reason #1 – Keeping patients and staff healthy

• Hepatitis B can stay alive on hard surfaces for 16 hours. It is easy to catch and can kill just as easily.

• In a study carried out at the University of Geneva, Switzerland, it was found that bacteria passed from hands to surfaces is the main source of bacterial transmission in health care facilities.

• CDC (Centers for Disease Control) tell us that all bacterial infections in the world are slowly becoming resistant to antibiotic treatments. That’s because disease-causing bacteria are living organisms that constantly evolve, enabling them to adapt to new environments.

• One CDC report states that 2 million people per year aquire infections from antibiotic resistant bacteria.

• CDC says,

“Inadvertent exposures to environmental pathogens …or airborne pathogens …can result in adverse patient outcomes and cause illness among health-care workers. Environmental infection-control [effective cleaning] strategies and engineering controls can effectively prevent these infections.”

Reason #2 – Promoting an environment conducive to healing and well-being

•  A document issued by the Royal College of Nursing mentions “increasing evidence that the quality of the physical environment has an impact on clinical outcomes for patients (Lawson et al 2003, Ulrich 2001).”  Cleanliness makes a statement to patients about the attitudes of staff, the level of care and how the clinic is run.

• If there is dust clinging to shelves in the operatory or sitting in a corner of a sterile counter, you can bet bacteria and aerosol particles are mixed with it.

• On GP rating websites, patients comment on wait times and room ambience on physician rating websites far more frequently than they criticize doctors’ clinical skills, often foming their first impression of a medical or dental practice in the waiting room. Stained furniture, old magazines strewn about have a huge impact on how patients perceive the quality of their care.  Asking what can be done in the reception area that will improve communication at the moment of physician-patient interaction?’ says health care designer, Rosalyn Cama.

Reason #3 – Avoiding the “Hall of Shame”

An article in The Telegraph newspaper reported on a health care watchdog inspection of dental practices with shocking results:

• One in nine dentists inspected by the health care watchdog were found to be in breach of strict guidelines on cleanliness and infection control designed to prevent the spread of conditions such as HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus), hepatitis and vCJD (variant Creutzfieldt-Jakob disease).

• An analysis reveals that of the 1,667 dental practices inspected by the CQC last year, 189 were found to not be following Department of Health instructions on how to clean instruments and surgeries.

• Dr Martin Fallowfield, chair of the British Dental Association’s executive committee, which represents dentists, said earlier studies had shown around one in 17 practices were in breach of infection control rules.

The first national inspection by the CQC of more than 900 GP surgeries in England found the following:

• One in three is failing to meet basic standards.

• Maggots were found at two surgeries.

• In nine cases the failings were so serious that they could “potentially affect thousands of people”, the CQC said.

• Numerous examples of poor standards in the handling of cleanliness.

• Concerns were expressed about a third of practices.

Hiring a professional cleaning company is essential to create and deliver a cleaning plan in line with the specifications for cleanliness as outlined by the NHS National Patient Safety Agency guidelines for Primary Care and Dental Practices.

UK Cleaning works to the latest CQC standards so we know what it takes to get and keep your surgery up to the highest quality, as set by national authorities.

Unseen dirt is a haven for bacteria and viruses that cause sickness. You may not suspect just how much of it lurks in the average office space. You come to work – a place where you likely spend one-third of your life – you type on the keyboard, answer the phone, use the photocopier, shake hands with customers, open doors for colleagues and perhaps use the lift a few times in the average work day.  Lunch – likely stored in the fridge – is then heated in the break-room microwave and perhaps eaten at your desk. Every surface you interact with holds the potential for carrying health robbing grime and germs.

If you are fortunate, your place of work will have hired a responsible and reliable office cleaning company. Sadly, this is not a priority in every workplace and it costs the UK economy billions of pounds annually in staff sick days.

During a typical day at the office, think about every surface you touch and then how many times your hands go to your mouth, your nose, or your eyes (research shows anywhere between 3 to 18 times per hour). There are a host of unseen threats living on everyday office items which are transmitted into the body via the aforementioned vessels.

The NHS suggests that germs can live for weeks on hard surfaces, all the while growing and dividing every 20 minutes. One single bacterium can multiply into more than 8 million cells within 24 hours. This means that office desks, computer keyboards, door handles and kitchen/break-room spaces, are potential breeding grounds for bacteria that may cause headaches, breathing and skin problems, depleted energy levels and viruses.

Check out this low-down on office dirt:

Filth Facts – Health harming hotspots in your office: 

Phones 
•    Fecal matter (aka, poo) was found on office phones swabbed by scientists from the university of London. The bacteria E. coli, is fecal in origin and can survive on hands and office surfaces for hours. 
 

Break room 
•    75% of tap handles in office break rooms are considered a serious risk of germ transmission. 
•    Microwave door handles and vending machine buttons are amongst the germiest places in the office. 
•    Mold spores and microbes (germs) lurk inside the fridge as well as on its handles. 
 

Keyboards 
•    Host 70% more bacteria than the average toilet seat. 
 

Desks 
•    You would never consider eating lunch in the loo, yet you may be surprised to learn that your desk contains 400 times more bacteria than a toilet seat. The average desk has up to 10 million bacteria. 
•    The area on your desk where you typically rest your hands hosts up to 10,000 bacteria. 
 

Water dispensers 
•    Research by Kimberly-Clark Corporation demonstrated that nearly a quarter of all water dispenser buttons pose a serious risk of illness transmission.  
Carpets 
•    Although many offices no longer have carpets, if yours does, be aware that if they are not vacuumed regularly they are a repository for skin and hair cells, food crumbs and bugs. In addition, the soiled soles of shoes track in dirt and bacteria from outdoors.

Before you don a hazmat suit for work, bear in mind that there are easier ways to avoid infection at the office that don’t involve you having to clean up at the end of a busy and tiring work day. Hiring a reliable office cleaning company to deal with dirty desks and other hygiene hazards will take care of  unseen invaders, so that what is seen – your presence and productivity – can shine.