Casual handshakes at graduation ceremony are not likely to raise your risk of exposure to harmful bacteria.
Casual handshakes at graduation ceremony are not likely to raise your risk of exposure to harmful bacteria.
To estimate the risk of acquiring bacteria as a result of shaking hands at graduation ceremonies, researchers studied Maryland students who shook a total of 5,209 hands while graduating from schools across the state in 2008. The study examined the risk of acquiring pathogenic bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) through shaking hands at graduation ceremonies ranging from elementary school to college. Researchers swabbed participants' hands before and immediately following graduation to identify any disease-causing (pathogenic) bacteria. The researchers collected the specimens before and immediately following graduation. Cultures identified any pathogenic bacteria in each specimen.
It was found that the students had only a slight risk of acquiring disease-causing bacteria. Only three instances of Staphylococcus aureus were found out of the thousands of handshakes - a rate of 0.019 pathogens per handshake - and 93 percent of the bacteria were harmless.
The study shows that when shaking hands, the rate of hand contamination among is very low. Reasons for the lower rate of contamination include the much briefer and less-extensive contact in a handshake.
To estimate the risk of acquiring bacteria as a result of shaking hands at graduation ceremonies, researchers studied Maryland students who shook a total of 5,209 hands while graduating from schools across the state in 2008. The study examined the risk of acquiring pathogenic bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) through shaking hands at graduation ceremonies ranging from elementary school to college. Researchers swabbed participants' hands before and immediately following graduation to identify any disease-causing (pathogenic) bacteria. The researchers collected the specimens before and immediately following graduation. Cultures identified any pathogenic bacteria in each specimen.
It was found that the students had only a slight risk of acquiring disease-causing bacteria. Only three instances of Staphylococcus aureus were found out of the thousands of handshakes - a rate of 0.019 pathogens per handshake - and 93 percent of the bacteria were harmless.
The study shows that when shaking hands, the rate of hand contamination among is very low. Reasons for the lower rate of contamination include the much briefer and less-extensive contact in a handshake.
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