The Hosts Of ‘Mean Girl’ Said They Don’t Wash Their Hands After Using The Bathroom. Doctors Say That’s Gross — And Not Safe.

“Did you wash your hands when you were little?” asked Alex Bennett, cohost of Wicked girlA Sports Podcast of Barstool on sex, relationships and adulthood, during a episode Released last week.

“I am sure I did it because I was forced … But I made the conscious decision to stop washing my hands, I think that when I was at university,” replied Jordyn Woodruff, Cohost of the Podcast. In fact, she said that between the hours of 10 a.m. and 7 p.m., “there is no hand washing.” (Even if she clarified, she cleanses her hands after pooping.)

Woodruff admits social pressure to wash your hands after using the bathroom is so strong that it simulates it occasionally. “Sometimes, with my roommates at home, I will, as, light the water because I am like, I don’t want them to think that I am, as, disgusting,” said Woodruff.

Forget the roommates because now a lot of people, including doctors Of all kinds, grimacted on the fact that these podcasters debate if we should wash our hands in 2023 – three years in a current pandemic which is still Kill 2,000 people week.

“I don’t really trust people who wash their hands because, well, I don’t think that does anything to wash them,” said Bennett, adding later that “[people] was not used to washing them during the day … and there were fewer diseases. She said she doesn’t like washing her hands because she doesn’t like to “be wet”; Woodruff added that Bennett does not like to shower either.

Even a week later, clips of the discussion of almost three minutes did their turn on social networks, acquiring a crowd of shocked And tasty reactions.

The problem is not that the podcast hosts do not wash their hands after using the bathroom (which in itself is obviously a problem). The greatest concern is that they disguise disinformation as a trendy honesty and a quirk. This can give others who think and behave in the same way a false feeling of assurance that what they do is ok or safe, according to Catherine Zeman, expert in preventive medicine and environmental health teacher at James Madison University.

“So that someone perpetuates a false idea that would contribute in any way that [the myth that handwashing isn’t important]I wouldn’t want to be on this side of the problem, “said Zeman.” The pathogens are incredibly small and will settle wherever they have the basic environment and the ability to reproduce – and will do it fairly quickly. This is the reason why you continue to apply good practices. »»

Bennett was right. Often people did not wash their hands “behind the day”, but they were not better because of this, without forgetting that they were not better knowing. In 1860, Life expectancy for people in the United States was only 39 years old. In 2020, this number was 80 years old in part because of the major reductions in infant and childhood mortality in vaccinations, appropriate sanitation and other public health measures.

In fact, it was in the mid -1800s when a Hungarian doctor appointed Ignaz Semmelweis first I discovered the importance of washing your hands In health circles – two decades before the theory of germs, the idea that microorganisms can cause a disease, gaining popularity.

Semmelweis worked in a Vienna maternity hospital which had two clinics, one of which was led by doctors and medical students who began their days to make autopsies on women who died of puerperal fever (or fever in the bed of children). Without washing their hands, doctors and medical students would go to maternities where they would carry out vaginal exams (it was before gloves were commonly used in hospitals).

The results were deadly. Between 1840 and 1846, the maternal mortality rate in this clinic was 98.4 per 1,000 births. However, in the second clinic, which was managed by midwives who did not carry out autopsies or did not carry out vaginal routine exams, the rate was 36.2 for 1,000 births.

After many studies, Semmelweis began to force students to wash their hands with chlorinated lime (called whitening powder these days) before entering maternity. Maternal mortality fell to 12.7 per 1,000 births in 1846, comparable to that of the midwifery clinic at the time.

The fact that “we debate fundamental science in 2023 … simply talks about our need to repair these problems that were over and over again,” said Zeman.

Handwashing “is the most important measure to reduce the propagation of microorganisms (or germs) from one person to another,” said Dr. Sabina Holland, a doctor and professor of pediatric infectious diseases at Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, told Buzzfeed News.

It is estimated that inadequate hands hygiene is reflected in Nearly 300,000 world deaths per yearof which the majority involve children under the age of 5. Depending on the CDC, hand washing can Prevent around 30% of diarrhea -related diseases And around 20% of respiratory infections such as common colds and flu. Practice can also help reduce antibiotic resistance (when drugs no longer work against certain bacteria) by preventing infections that require them first.

Woodruff and Bennett said they thought it was not necessary to wash your hands after peeing in the middle of the night. Experts just, but health experts think the opposite.

“I recommend you with all my heart to wash your hands each time you use the toilets, no matter what is happening in the bathroom! Hand hygiene decreases the risk of microorganisms that are transmitted by the fecal-oral road (that is to say from your genitals / background to your mouth)” wrote Holland in an email. “The hour of the day is not important at all.”

Whether you pee or poop, you generally cannot leave the bathroom without touching certain surfaces. Bacteria and viruses that cause diarrhea and / or vomiting, as norovirus,, Difficult clostridium (C. Diff), E. Coli and Salmonella love to wait around the toilet, sink handles, door buttons and other areas. Other germs such as adenoviruses and handmade diseases can also spread in the bathroom.

No matter how diligent you are to clean your bathroom, emptying the toilet can aerosolize certain bacteria, which can land on surfaces. If you touch them and do not wash your hands, you can spread these germs.

(Funny fact: a single gram of human excrement, on the weight of a trombone, can contain 1 billion of germs.)

“Personally, I prefer to wash my hands effectively than to live one of these infections (and I expect my children and my partner to do the same),” said Holland.

Woodruff and Bennett also admitted to having pretended to wash your hands at work by operating the sink after using the bathroom.

This revelation has stimulated strong rewarded rewards from another podcaster from the Barstool sports office, Kelly Keegs, who Published a blog The same day, the episode was broadcast by saying that it did not think that “anyone who needs confirmation that in this sump of an office, our chances of acquiring the bubonic plague increase every day.” (Woodruff and Bennett responded to “hatred” in their Podcast episode following and on social networks.)

Keegs also admitted that she “was talking about shit Plan BRI girls so as not to wash their hands When they released an almost identical clip as a year ago, but they get a pass, because at least they know they are trash cans. Re2 Respect. “”

Unfortunately, Woodruff and Bennett are not the only ones to be unhealthy. A Yougov survey carried out in 2020 on more than 24,000 American adults found that 25% wash their hands with soap “most of the time” After using the bathroom; 10% do it part of the time; And 4% rarely do it. Globally, estimates show that only 19% of people wash their hands after using the toilet.

If you need a reminder, here are some Handwashing advice CDC:

• You should always wash your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, making sure you reach the back of your hands, between your fingers and under your nails. In case you don’t have a soap, Zeman said that rinsing with just water is better than nothing.
• If you do not have access to a sink, you can use a hand disinfectant with at least 60% alcohol, but you should make sure that the air of the dry disinfectant alone. Otherwise, it will not be effective. Also note that the disinfectant does not kill all types of germs such as norovirus.
• Always wash your hands before and after preparing food, eating, taking care of the sick and dealing with an open wound. Always wash your hands after using the bathroom, modified layers, blow your nose, cough, sneeze, touch or feed an animal and touch the garbage.