Hygiene and Sanitation
Hygiene is keeping our
body, our teeth, our hair, our clothes and our genital area clean. It
is one of
the mechanisms used
for breaking disease
transmission cycles. It
also helps the
individual to have
a good aesthetic
value by the
people he/she is
living with. Moreover, it is a good figure of better
living style. Personal hygiene is
therefore, a measure
taken at individual
level to promote personal cleanliness
so that transmission of
diseases from source
to susceptible hosts
is prevented. It can
be seen the
most effective in
protecting the health
of communities where
treatment options are
constraints due to
lack of health
care delivery systems.
Many health problems are due to poor hygiene behavior. The benefits
of safe
water supply and sanitation efforts
in a given
community can easily
be lost if
the communities still
carry on with
the poor personal Hygiene behavior. For instance
the source water
in a
refugee settlement in
Eastern Sudan was
protected and tested
as micro biologically very good.
However, during transport
on donkeys back
the quality has
deteriorated by the time it
was brought home.
How
Hygiene And Sanitation Does Prevent Us From Developing A Disease?
Like any other forms of life, microbes
that cause illness require suitable environment to survive, grow and multiply.
Hence, when these basic requirements are not met due to cleanliness microbial
growth and multiplication is discouraged denying them their chance of causing
disease. To understand the survival of microbes, it’s good to see the basic
requirements that microbes need to grow which are relevant for personal
hygiene.
There are four basic requirements
for microbes to grow in the environment:
1. Water:
Like all other forms of life,
microbes require water to grow. Ideally a water content of 25-40% is required
for optimal growth of microbes in a medium and no microbial activity takes place
if the water content is less than 3%. Note, however, that as conditions become
drier bacteria can form resistant stages called spores. These spores can
germinate into vegetative cells when moisture content is improving. This
Personal Hygiene tells us that, after we have washed our body, hair and clothes
we need to dry it so that the microorganisms will not get favorable moisture to
grow.
Depending on the type of species and
limits of tolerance, microbes vary in their temperature requirement. For
example, soil bacteria grow best at 25oC whereas pathogenic bacteria
are active at 370C.
3. Light:
Microbial growth and multiplication
is favored by darkness or dim light. Bright light conditions, on the other
hand, discourage growth and multiplication. In fact direct sun rays can kill
most bacteria. In this case sunbath and exposing
closes for sunshine will help to
have a better personal hygiene.
4. Oxygen:
Aerobic forms of bacteria require
oxygen for survival and multiplication
and when this is lacking their growth is inhibited.
5.
Favorable pH:
Pathogenic organisms generally
prefer a
neutral pH, or pH around 7. A sudden
change in pH, either
above or below 7 will kill the
organism. Applying
recommended chemicals, like soap, to
clean our body, hair or
cloth will help to kill the harbored
microbes.
