Emergency Health Management and Student Hygiene at a South African University
Risk of infectious disease outbreaks is related to the
hygiene among the population. To assess the actual risks and modify
the relevant emergency procedures if necessary, a hygiene survey
was conducted among undergraduate students on the Rhodes
University campus. Soap was available to 10.5% and only 26.8% of
the study participants followed proper hygiene in relation to food
consumption. This combination increases the risk of infectious
disease outbreaks at the campus. Around 83.6% were willing to wash
their hands if soap was provided. Procurement and availability of
soap in undergraduate residences on campus should be improved, as
the total cost is estimated at only 2000 USD per annum. Awareness
campaigns about food-related hygiene and the need for regular handwashing
with soap should be run among Rhodes University students.
If successful, rates of respiratory and hygiene-related diseases will be
decreased and emergency health management simplified.
[1] Rhodes University Emergency Management Plan (RUEMP). Estates
Division, RU, Grahamstown, South Africa, 2011.
[2] Rhodes University Healthcare Centre (RUHC, 2011). Medical
Emergencies. Rhodes University, Grahamstown South Africa.
[3] South African Medicines Formulary. 8th edition, Health and Medical
Publishing Company, Rodenbosch, South Africa, 2008.
[4] Rhodes University First Aid Responders List. Available at:
http://www.ru.ac.za/safety/firstaid/rufirstaiders/ (website accessed on
11th March 2013).
[5] South African Department of Health. Disease Notification System.
Available at: www.doh.gov.za/show.php?id=2662 (website accessed on
6th March 2013), 2013.
[6] World Health Organisation. Hygiene. Available at:
http://www.who.int/topics/hygiene/en (website accessed on cited 29th
January 2011), 2011.
[7] N. Phaswana-Mafuya, N. Shukla. Factors that could motivate people to
adopt safe hygienic practices in the Eastern Cape Province, South
Africa. African Health Sciences March, vol. 5(1), pp. 21-28, 2005.
[8] I. Van Tonder, J. F. R Lues, M. M. Theron. The personal and general
hygiene practices of food handlers in the delicatessen sections of retail
outlets in South Africa. Journal of Environmental Health, vol. 70(4), pp.
33-38, 2007.
[9] V. Curtis, S. Cairncross. Effect of washing hands with soap on diarrhoea
risk in the community: A systematic review. Lancet Infectious Diseases
vol. 3(5), pp. 275-281, 2003.
[10] S. P. Luby, M. Agboatwalla, D. R. Feikin, J. Painter, W. Billhimer, A.
Altaf, R.M. Hoekstra. Effect of handwashing on child health: A
randomized controlled trial. Lancet vol. 366(9481), pp. 225-233, 2005.
[11] J. M. Simmerman, P. Suntarattiwong, J. Levy, R. V. Gibbons, C. Cruz,
J. Shaman, R. G. Jarman, T. Chotpitayasunondh. Influenza virus
contamination of common household surfaces during the 2009 influenza
A (H1N1) Pandemic in Bangkok, Thailand: Implications for contact
transmission. Clinical Infectious Diseases vol. 51(9), pp 1053-1061, ,
2010.
[12] World Health Organisation. WHO Guidelines on Hand Hygiene in
Health Care. Available at:
http://www.cec.health.nsw.gov.au/__documents/programs/handhygiene/
who-guidelines.pdf (website accessed on 30th January 2013),
2005.
[13] Global Hygiene Council. Available at:
http://www.lifehealthcare.co.za/Health/Hand_Hygiene.aspx (website
accessed last on 7th March 2013), 2009.
[14] C. D. Luyt, W. J. Muller, R. Tandlich. Low-cost tools for microbial
quality assessment of drinking water in South Africa. HealthMed vol.
5(6) Supplement 1, pp. 1868-1877, 2011.
[15] Statistics South Africa. Municipal facts sheet (census 2011 data
products). Available at:
http://www.statssa.gov.za/Census2011/Products.asp (website accessed
on 14th February 2013), 2012.
[16] Social Sciences Research Methods. Likert Scaling. Available at:
http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/scallik.php (website accessed
on 4th February 2013), 2006.
[17] D. Bradshaw, P. Groenewald, R. Laubscher, N. Nannan, B. Nojilana, R.
Norman, D. Pieterse, M. Schneider. Initial burden of disease estimates
for South Africa, 2000. Burden of Disease Research Unit, Medical
Research Council, Cape Town, South Africa, 2003.
[18] J. L. Anderson, C. A. Warren, E. Perez, R. I. Louis, S. Phillips, J.
Wheeler, M. Cole, R. Misra. Gender and ethnic differences in hand
hygiene practices among college students. American Journal of Infection
Control vol. 36(5), pp. 361-368, 2008.
[19] L.S. Kimel. Handwashing education can decrease illness absenteeism.
The Journal of school nursing: the official publication of the National
Association of School Nurses vol.12(2), pp. 14-16, 18, 1996.
[20] S. Erkal, , H. ┼×ahin. An application on determining hygiene behaviors of
university students. International Journal of Business and Social Science
vol. 2(8), pp. 170-176, 2011.
[21] C. White, R. Kolble, R. Carlson, N. Lipson. The impact of a health
campaign on hand hygiene and upper respiratory illness among college
students living in residence halls. Journal of American College Health
vol. 53(4), pp. 175-181, 2005.
[22] T. W. Valente, D. V. Schuster. The Public Health Perspective for
Communicating Environmental Issues. (Chapter 6, In: New Tools for
Environmental Protection: Education, Information and Voluntary
Measures, T, Dietz and P. C. Stern, eds.), National Academy Press,
Washington, DC, pp. 105-124, 2002.
[23] Florida State Department of Health. The Florida Lab Link: a biological
and chemical preparedness newsletter. Available at:
http://www.doh.state.fl.us/lab/publications/Newsletters/LLV8I2.pdf
(website accessed on 10th March 2013), 2010.
[24] S. Samanta, S. Rana, A. Sharma, A. K. Misra, J. Chattopadhyay. Effect
of awareness programs by media on the epidemic outbreaks: A
mathematical model. Applied Mathematics and Computation vol.
219(12), pp. 6965-6977, 2013.
[25] S. A. Boone, C. P. Gerba. Significance of fomites in the spread of
respiratory and enteric viral disease. Applied and Environmental
Microbiology vol. 73(6), pp. 1687-1696, 2007.
[26] J. O. Hendley, R. P. Wenzel, J. M. Gwaltney Jr. Transmission of
rhinovirus colds by self-inoculation. New England Journal of Medicine
vol. 288(26), pp. 1361-1364, 1973.
[27] A. Al Kadi, S. A. Salati. Hand hygiene practices among medical
students. Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Infectious Diseases art. no.
679129, 2012.
[1] Rhodes University Emergency Management Plan (RUEMP). Estates
Division, RU, Grahamstown, South Africa, 2011.
[2] Rhodes University Healthcare Centre (RUHC, 2011). Medical
Emergencies. Rhodes University, Grahamstown South Africa.
[3] South African Medicines Formulary. 8th edition, Health and Medical
Publishing Company, Rodenbosch, South Africa, 2008.
[4] Rhodes University First Aid Responders List. Available at:
http://www.ru.ac.za/safety/firstaid/rufirstaiders/ (website accessed on
11th March 2013).
[5] South African Department of Health. Disease Notification System.
Available at: www.doh.gov.za/show.php?id=2662 (website accessed on
6th March 2013), 2013.
[6] World Health Organisation. Hygiene. Available at:
http://www.who.int/topics/hygiene/en (website accessed on cited 29th
January 2011), 2011.
[7] N. Phaswana-Mafuya, N. Shukla. Factors that could motivate people to
adopt safe hygienic practices in the Eastern Cape Province, South
Africa. African Health Sciences March, vol. 5(1), pp. 21-28, 2005.
[8] I. Van Tonder, J. F. R Lues, M. M. Theron. The personal and general
hygiene practices of food handlers in the delicatessen sections of retail
outlets in South Africa. Journal of Environmental Health, vol. 70(4), pp.
33-38, 2007.
[9] V. Curtis, S. Cairncross. Effect of washing hands with soap on diarrhoea
risk in the community: A systematic review. Lancet Infectious Diseases
vol. 3(5), pp. 275-281, 2003.
[10] S. P. Luby, M. Agboatwalla, D. R. Feikin, J. Painter, W. Billhimer, A.
Altaf, R.M. Hoekstra. Effect of handwashing on child health: A
randomized controlled trial. Lancet vol. 366(9481), pp. 225-233, 2005.
[11] J. M. Simmerman, P. Suntarattiwong, J. Levy, R. V. Gibbons, C. Cruz,
J. Shaman, R. G. Jarman, T. Chotpitayasunondh. Influenza virus
contamination of common household surfaces during the 2009 influenza
A (H1N1) Pandemic in Bangkok, Thailand: Implications for contact
transmission. Clinical Infectious Diseases vol. 51(9), pp 1053-1061, ,
2010.
[12] World Health Organisation. WHO Guidelines on Hand Hygiene in
Health Care. Available at:
http://www.cec.health.nsw.gov.au/__documents/programs/handhygiene/
who-guidelines.pdf (website accessed on 30th January 2013),
2005.
[13] Global Hygiene Council. Available at:
http://www.lifehealthcare.co.za/Health/Hand_Hygiene.aspx (website
accessed last on 7th March 2013), 2009.
[14] C. D. Luyt, W. J. Muller, R. Tandlich. Low-cost tools for microbial
quality assessment of drinking water in South Africa. HealthMed vol.
5(6) Supplement 1, pp. 1868-1877, 2011.
[15] Statistics South Africa. Municipal facts sheet (census 2011 data
products). Available at:
http://www.statssa.gov.za/Census2011/Products.asp (website accessed
on 14th February 2013), 2012.
[16] Social Sciences Research Methods. Likert Scaling. Available at:
http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/scallik.php (website accessed
on 4th February 2013), 2006.
[17] D. Bradshaw, P. Groenewald, R. Laubscher, N. Nannan, B. Nojilana, R.
Norman, D. Pieterse, M. Schneider. Initial burden of disease estimates
for South Africa, 2000. Burden of Disease Research Unit, Medical
Research Council, Cape Town, South Africa, 2003.
[18] J. L. Anderson, C. A. Warren, E. Perez, R. I. Louis, S. Phillips, J.
Wheeler, M. Cole, R. Misra. Gender and ethnic differences in hand
hygiene practices among college students. American Journal of Infection
Control vol. 36(5), pp. 361-368, 2008.
[19] L.S. Kimel. Handwashing education can decrease illness absenteeism.
The Journal of school nursing: the official publication of the National
Association of School Nurses vol.12(2), pp. 14-16, 18, 1996.
[20] S. Erkal, , H. ┼×ahin. An application on determining hygiene behaviors of
university students. International Journal of Business and Social Science
vol. 2(8), pp. 170-176, 2011.
[21] C. White, R. Kolble, R. Carlson, N. Lipson. The impact of a health
campaign on hand hygiene and upper respiratory illness among college
students living in residence halls. Journal of American College Health
vol. 53(4), pp. 175-181, 2005.
[22] T. W. Valente, D. V. Schuster. The Public Health Perspective for
Communicating Environmental Issues. (Chapter 6, In: New Tools for
Environmental Protection: Education, Information and Voluntary
Measures, T, Dietz and P. C. Stern, eds.), National Academy Press,
Washington, DC, pp. 105-124, 2002.
[23] Florida State Department of Health. The Florida Lab Link: a biological
and chemical preparedness newsletter. Available at:
http://www.doh.state.fl.us/lab/publications/Newsletters/LLV8I2.pdf
(website accessed on 10th March 2013), 2010.
[24] S. Samanta, S. Rana, A. Sharma, A. K. Misra, J. Chattopadhyay. Effect
of awareness programs by media on the epidemic outbreaks: A
mathematical model. Applied Mathematics and Computation vol.
219(12), pp. 6965-6977, 2013.
[25] S. A. Boone, C. P. Gerba. Significance of fomites in the spread of
respiratory and enteric viral disease. Applied and Environmental
Microbiology vol. 73(6), pp. 1687-1696, 2007.
[26] J. O. Hendley, R. P. Wenzel, J. M. Gwaltney Jr. Transmission of
rhinovirus colds by self-inoculation. New England Journal of Medicine
vol. 288(26), pp. 1361-1364, 1973.
[27] A. Al Kadi, S. A. Salati. Hand hygiene practices among medical
students. Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Infectious Diseases art. no.
679129, 2012.
@article{"International Journal of Business, Human and Social Sciences:54040", author = "Kudzai Ashley Tagwira and Michelle Marle Marais and Tracy Anne Ludwig and Rutendo Precious Chidziva and Mavis Nyaradzo Munodawafa and Wendy M. Wrench and Roman Tandlich", title = "Emergency Health Management and Student Hygiene at a South African University", abstract = "Risk of infectious disease outbreaks is related to the
hygiene among the population. To assess the actual risks and modify
the relevant emergency procedures if necessary, a hygiene survey
was conducted among undergraduate students on the Rhodes
University campus. Soap was available to 10.5% and only 26.8% of
the study participants followed proper hygiene in relation to food
consumption. This combination increases the risk of infectious
disease outbreaks at the campus. Around 83.6% were willing to wash
their hands if soap was provided. Procurement and availability of
soap in undergraduate residences on campus should be improved, as
the total cost is estimated at only 2000 USD per annum. Awareness
campaigns about food-related hygiene and the need for regular handwashing
with soap should be run among Rhodes University students.
If successful, rates of respiratory and hygiene-related diseases will be
decreased and emergency health management simplified.", keywords = "Awareness, Food hygiene, Infectious disease spread, Undergraduate students.", volume = "7", number = "6", pages = "1498-9", }
