新奇事件簿 女性比男性更经常洗手（在线收听）

Women are better than men when it comes to washing their hands in public toilets. This is according to a new study from the American Society for Microbiology (ASM). It monitored the washing habits of thousands of people in restrooms in four major U.S. cities. It found 90 percent of women washed their hands, compared with 75 percent of men. A separate telephone survey revealed that people perhaps lie about how hygienic they are: 97 percent of women and 96 percent of men said they always wash their hands after using a public restroom.

在公共卫生间洗手方面，女性比男性做得更好。这是美国微生物学会一项最新研究的结果。该研究监督了美国四大主要城市数千人在公共卫生间的洗手习惯。研究发现，90%的女性会洗手，而男性只有75%。一项单独的电话调查披露，人们在自己的卫生习惯方面会说谎：97%的女性和96%的男性宣称自己使用公共卫生间之后会洗手。

Dr. Judy Daly of the ASM advised: “One of the most effective tools in preventing the spread of infection is at our fingertips. The single most important thing we can do to keep from getting sick and spreading illness to others is to clean our hands.” She explained that cold and flu viruses are spread by hands more often than through the air from sneezing. However, the study found only 42 percent wash after petting a dog or cat, 32 percent after coughing or sneezing and 21 percent after handling money. Banknotes and coins are full of illness-causing bacteria.

美国微生物学会的Judy Daly博士表示：“预防疾病传播最有效的工具就在我们的指尖。在预防患病，预防把疾病传播给他人方面，我们能做的最重要的事情就是洗手。”她解释说，感冒和流感病毒通过手的传播比通过打喷嚏空气传播更加频繁。然而，这项研究发现，只有42%的人抚摸了狗或猫之后会洗手，只有32%的人咳嗽或打喷嚏后洗手，只有21%的人数钱之后洗手。纸币和硬币上到处都是致病细菌。