Washington – Men are dirtier than women, scientists confirmed by spying in public rest rooms, watching as one-quarter of men left without washing their hands.
The worst offenders were at an Atlanta Braves game.
In contrast, 90 percent of women wash their hands.
Wednesday’s results mark the American Society of Microbiology’s latest look at how many people take what is considered the single easiest step to staying healthy: spending 20 seconds washing with soap under the faucet.
It also explains why these infection experts tend to use paper towels to open bathroom doors. There is no telling what germs the person before you left on the knob.
“It’s a gamble,” said microbiologist Judy Daly of Primary Children’s Medical Center in Salt Lake City, the society’s secretary.
In 1996, the society first studied how often people follow Mom’s advice to always wash up after using the toilet. Researchers lingered in public rest rooms, putting on makeup or combing their hair, while surreptitiously counting. They concluded about one-third of people did not wash.
The group sponsored an education campaign about how hand-washing can stop the spread of flu, diarrhea and other infectious diseases.
Every few years, researchers repeat the spying.
This time, 83 percent of people washed, reported Harris Interactive, a research company that last month monitored more than 6,300 public-rest room users for the society.
Overall, that’s a little better. But take a closer look:
The worst hygiene was at Atlanta’s Turner Field baseball stadium, where 37 percent of men left the bathroom without washing. So did 16 percent of the women.
New York’s Penn Station had the biggest gender disparity. There, 64 percent of men washed their hands compared with 92 percent of women.
The best hygiene was at San Francisco’s Ferry Terminal Farmers Market and Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry and Shedd Aquarium, where only about 12 percent of people left without washing.
People exaggerate about hygiene. A Harris telephone survey of 1,000 more adults found 91 percent insisted they wash in public restrooms. Additionally, 77 percent claimed to always wash before handling or eating food, and 32 percent after coughing or sneezing.
