But it's not just as simple as drying your hands off in any old way, because how you dry your hands also matters. And this is particularly the case in hospitals and doctors' surgeries.
Our research review has examined the importance of hand drying and the implications of wet hands for patients and healthcare workers. The findings highlight that hot air hand dryers and cloth roller towels can be a problematic way of drying your hands – especially in a hospital.
Our review mainly looked at the impact of hand drying on bacteria, not viruses. But what we found is still relevant when looking at the possible transmission and spread of coronavirus in hospitals and GP surgeries – particularly given the advice from the WHO regarding frequent handwashing.
Disposable paper towels offer the most hygienic method of hand drying. Indeed, warm air and jet air dryers are not recommended for use in hospitals and clinics for hygiene reasons. These types of hand dryers can increase the dispersion of particles and micro organisms into the air, contaminating the environment.
Cloth roller towels are also not recommended as they become a general use towel when the roll comes to an end – and can be a source of pathogen transfer to clean hands.
Importance of hand drying
Our review also found that the most appropriate methods for hand drying within a clinical environment – such as a hospital – differed to that recommended for public washrooms. This is because of the higher risk of contamination and cross-infection in hospitals. So while it is important to dry your hands properly wherever you are, paper towels are always the preferred option if you are in hospital as a patient or a visitor – or a member of staff.
As part of our review, we also looked at government policy on hand drying and found that disposable paper towels are recognised as being the quickest and most effective way of removing residual moisture that may allow for the transmission of micro organisms. This is good to know given the current concerns around the spread of the coronavirus.
In this sense, our research serves as a timely reminder that proper and effective hand drying is integral to hand hygiene whether you're in a hospital, doctor's surgery or just in the office.
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons licence. Read the original article.