Hand cleansers may keep kids from spreading GI illnesses

The question: As most any parent will attest, contagious diseases picked up at a child-care center spread readily from youngsters to other family members. Might the risk of passing on respiratory and gastrointestinal illnesses be lessened by the use of hand sanitizers at home?

This study randomly assigned 292 families (1,053 people) with at least one young child enrolled in child care outside the home to use or specifically not use alcohol-based hand sanitizers at home. Those using hand sanitizers also received biweekly mailings of hand-hygiene information, games and toys aimed at triggering awareness of hand cleanliness practices. The others were sent information about a healthy diet. After five months, families who used hand sanitizers had 59 percent fewer secondary GI illnesses – i.e., those caught from a family member – than those who did not use them. The rate of secondary respiratory illnesses differed little between the groups.

Who may be affected by these findings? Families with young children.

Caveats: At the start of the study, adult participants acknowledged cleansing their hands after changing a diaper or using the bathroom more often than after wiping a child’s nose. The authors suggested that this tendency, if it continued throughout the study, may explain why there was little difference between the two groups in the transmission of respiratory illnesses. Findings were based on reporting of symptoms by participants rather than laboratory tests. The study was funded by a manufacturer of hand sanitizers.

Find this study: In the September issue of Pediatrics; abstract available online at www.pediatrics.org.

Learn more about health aspects of child care at www.medem.com (search for “controlling illness”) and learn about the benefits of hand cleansing at http://nrc.uchsc.edu (search for “handwashing”).