title: Faecal contamination of commuters' hands in main vehicle stations in Dhaka city, Bangladesh.
abstract: Faecal-oral carriage via hands is an important transmission pathway for diarrhoeal pathogens. The level of faecal contamination of commuters' hands in Dhaka, Bangladesh, was examined in this study.
  
  
  
  A total of 900 hand washing samples, including both left and right hands, were collected during one year to cover three different seasons in Bangladesh: winter, summer and rainy seasons. Standard membrane filtration technique was used to quantify total coliforms (TC), faecal coliforms (FC), faecal streptococci (FS), Escherichia coli (EC) and Clostridium perfringens (CP).
  
  
  
  The hands of the commuters were contaminated with TC, FC, FS, CP and EC. The TC, FC, FS, CP and EC counts were 1.95, 1.65, 4.04, 1.54 and1.46 log10 colony forming units (cfu) in the left hand; and 2.13, 1.82, 4.11, 1.52 and 1.61 log10 cfu in the right hand, respectively. There were no statistically significant differences in counts of left and right hands. The highest counts were observed for FS in all seasons.
  
  
  
  This evidence based study may be used to provide interventions to reduce the contamination of commuters' hands through washing with detergent and, thus, help to prevent the spread of infectious diseases.
authors.affiliation: International Center for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b), Mohakhali, Dhaka - 1212, Bangladesh sislam@icddrb.org.
authors.forename: Mohammad S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Islam
authors.affiliation: International Center for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b), Mohakhali, Dhaka - 1212, Bangladesh.
authors.forename: Zahid H
authors.initials: ZH
authors.lastname: Mahmud
authors.affiliation: International Center for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b), Mohakhali, Dhaka - 1212, Bangladesh.
authors.forename: Mohammad S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Islam
authors.affiliation: International Center for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b), Mohakhali, Dhaka - 1212, Bangladesh.
authors.forename: Rokon U
authors.initials: RU
authors.lastname: Zaman
authors.affiliation: International Center for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b), Mohakhali, Dhaka - 1212, Bangladesh.
authors.forename: Mohammad R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Islam
authors.affiliation: International Center for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b), Mohakhali, Dhaka - 1212, Bangladesh.
authors.forename: Partha S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Gope
authors.affiliation: WaterAid in Bangladesh, Banani, House 51, Road No. 5, Dhaka 1209, Bangladesh.
authors.forename: Khairul
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Islam
authors.affiliation: WaterAid in Bangladesh, Banani, House 51, Road No. 5, Dhaka 1209, Bangladesh.
authors.forename: Hasin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jahan
authors.affiliation: WaterAid in Bangladesh, Banani, House 51, Road No. 5, Dhaka 1209, Bangladesh.
authors.forename: Aftab
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Opel
authors.affiliation: Dhaka University of Engineering and Technology, Gazipur, Bangladesh.
authors.forename: Ganesh C
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Shaha
authors.affiliation: International Center for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b), Mohakhali, Dhaka - 1212, Bangladesh.
authors.forename: Shah M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Faruque
authors.affiliation: International Center for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b), Mohakhali, Dhaka - 1212, Bangladesh.
authors.forename: John D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Clemens
mesh_terms: D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000635:transmission*; D001459:Bangladesh; D002947:Cities; D003016:Clostridium perfringens; D004926:Escherichia coli; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology*; D006225:Hand / Q000382:microbiology*; D006235:Hand Disinfection; D006801:Humans; D012621:Seasons; D013291:Streptococcus; D014186:Transportation; D014871:Water Microbiology
keywords: Bangladesh; Commuters hand; Faecal contamination; Hand washing; Seasons; Vehicles