Chez Chesler

Two alumni from different schools find themselves in the same men's room. The Princeton man notices that the Harvard man is about to leave without washing his hands, and tells him "At Princeton, we wash our hands after we use the bathroom." His rival replies "At Harvard, we don't piss on our hands."

Researchers from the American Society for Microbiology and the Soap and Detergent Association made headlines lately when they hung out in public restrooms ("No, we're not watching you wash your hands, we're hoping to have anonymous sex with a US Senator") and observed that only 57% of men at Turner Field washed their hands after using the bathroom, compared to 95% of women. The gender gap got big play, and also that many more people reported in a telephone survey that they wash after using the bathroom than actually did. The ASM even maintains Washup.org, a site dedicated to hand washing. Their fact sheet notes that the CDC says "the single most important thing we can do to keep from getting sick and spreading illness to others is to clean our hands." That's fine, but what is it about unzipping my fly, or touching my own penis, makes my hands particularly more unclean than they were before?

Biostatisticians love to count and do regression studies. Sowhere's the study that after controlling for people who wash their hands before eating or preparing food, and after contacting animals, feces, other people, and dirty surfaces, determins if men who wash their hands after urinating get sick any less often than those who don't piss on their hands?

Labels: germs, urine, wash