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Everyone knows hand-washing is important. But a new study shows how washing your hands often, and at the right time, can have an effect on your family’s risk(危险) for getting sick. Most studies on hand-washing focus on medical and food service workers. But washing hands at home is a way to stop viruses 病毒from spreading. Several studies show hands are the single most important way for all types of infections. Even though most people know to wash their hands after using the toilet.

Researchers found 83 percent of virus was on the surface of bathroom, living room and kitchen. Another study found that at homes where salmonella(沙门氏菌) cases had been found, the bacteria remained there for three weeks. That’s why people should pay attention to cleaning such surfaces regularly and always wash hands after touching them. In one study, a volunteer touched a door handle that had been with a virus. He then shook hands with other volunteers, and further tests showed he had spread the virus to six people.

The study authors note that time of hand-washing is the key. It’s obvious to wash hands after using the toilet,before eating or handling food. Other important times for hand-washing are after cleaning up a pet, or after touching garbage cans, cleaning clothes, dish rags that may have come into contact with raw food.

It may be hard to believe that something as simple as regular hand-washing can make a difference in your family’s health, considering what happened in Hong Kong during the 2003 outbreak of SARS, a severe kind of disease. The outbreak caused the public pay more attention to their basic hygiene(卫生) habits, including regular hand-washing. Not only was the SARS stopped, but other cases of illnesses, including the flu, stopped.