Hand hygiene interventions and impacts on school children

Abstract

Hand hygiene is the single most important and effective intervention to prevent the spread of pathogens. Effective hand hygiene helps schools to build a healthy place for learning. Children should develop this hygiene behaviour in their young age and sustain it in their life time in order to optimize their health. The objective of this literature review is to identify common infectious diseases among children, review their impacts on school-aged children and discuss the public health implication by synthesizing information from pertinent articles identified from broad sources including electronic database (MEDLINE, PUBMED, Cochrane Library) and relevant institutions in the field. The epidemiology of the common infectious diseases among children was included. The impacts of school absenteeism, child development and health-related quality of life were also addressed. Proper hand hygiene method and technique were summarized. The limitation and recommendations on hand hygiene education and promotion was discussed. Hand hygiene education and promotion in school can help children to enhance their hygiene knowledge and equip their hand hygiene skill. However, more research in studying the sustainability of hand hygiene