Royal Society for Public Health, July 2019
Royal Society for Public Health making the case for targeted hygiene in the home and everyday life, as the most effective framework for preventing the spread of infection and supporting a healthy microbiome. It finds while there is a general understanding among the public about the importance of a healthy microbiome, there is much public confusion about the relationship between dirt, germs, cleanliness and hygiene. Moreover, although the importance of hygiene is well understood, the times and situations where it is most necessary are not. A worrying one in four (23%) of those surveyed believed hygiene in the home was not important, thinking children need to be exposed to harmful germs to build their immune system. The best way to be hygienic and allow our good bacteria to thrive is to practise Targeted Hygiene – implementing the correct cleaning techniques at the most crucial moments. If the understanding of the importance of targeted hygiene can be communicated more widely, it has the potential to reduce the burden on the NHS, promote healthy microbiomes, and reduce the spread of antimicrobial resistance.
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