Even in an era in which access to personal
“cleanliness” and a public health infrastructure are
readily available in developed countries, illnesses
associated with day care centres and homes continue
to be a problem. The inhabitants of less developed
countries, on the other hand, must contend with an
inadequate public health infrastructure, lack of
education programmes, and economic limitations in
obtaining hygiene products. Therefore, less developed
countries carry a greater burden of morbidity and
mortality from infectious illnesses. The objective of
this review is to examine and assess the
epidemiological evidence for a causal relation between
hygiene practices and infections. The Medline
database was searched from January 1980 to June 2001
and studies were included if the outcomes was
infection or symptoms of infection, and if the
independent variables was one or more hygiene
measures. The strength of the association as measured
by the relative reduction in risk of illness was
appreciable and generally greater than 20%. Despite
methodological strengths and limitations of the
studies assessed, the weight of evidence collectively
suggests that personal and environmental hygiene
reduces the spread of infection. The results from this
review demonstrate that there is a continued,
measurable, positive effect of personal and
community hygiene on infections