A child can contaminate 50% of his class at playtime, says germ transfer study

In time for the observance of Global Handwashing Day on Oct. 15, soap brand Safeguard commissioned a research mission to determine the rate of germ transfer and germ contamination among schoolchildren. The research mission was conducted by the Beijing Health Technical Research Center using 40 children in an elementary school in China. One child was designated Patient Zero and had his hands marked with “a safe fluorescent agent” representing germs. Over the course of the day, the child interacted with his friends inside and outside the classroom, performing the usual activities of any schoolchild—studying, playing and eating with his friends. At the end of certain periods, the researchers used a UV light detector to check the children for traces of "contamination," in order to determine how many children had residue of the fluorescent agent on them at different time intervals and during different activities. The study found that:

• 62.5 percent of the class were found to be contaminated with the fluorescent agent in 30 minutes of team sport activity;
• 55 percent of children were contaminated with the fluorescent agent in 40 minutes of a school bus ride—a percentage that went up to 77.5 percent, or almost eight out of 10 children, in an hour-long bus ride; and
• 100 percent of the children were contaminated with the fluorescent agent in one hour of playground activity.

The survey further stated that one child can contaminate more than 50 percent of his class in less than one hour of outdoor activities. In a real-life situation, it added, “a child coming home from school has a 50-50 chance of being contaminated by disease-causing germs.” “The spread of germs in our highly populated societies is a real danger,” said the research center's Dr. Jeffrey Jin. “A high level of people-to-people interaction leads to greater and faster transfer of germs from person to person, and especially from child to child, because as shown by this experiment, children tend to be very susceptible. “This widening chain of person-to-person contact and germ transfer could translate into a widening chain of illnesses.” This is why doctors recommend frequent hand-washing with anti-bacterial soap, he added. By doing so, "we can break the germ transfer chain and protect children's health." The results of the study were presented by Safeguard at an event at which it also unveiled its new product, the Magic Foamer, which turns the consistency of liquid soap closer to that of shaving cream to make handwashing more fun for kids. Global Handwashing Day was established in 2001 by the Global Public-Private Partnership for Handwashing with Soap (PPPHW), a coalition of ten international stakeholders that includes three multinational consumer goods companies and aid agencies UNICEF and USAID. — Barbara Marchadesch/DVM, GMA News