No evidence that most diseases are transmitted by hand

13/08/2020

Misleading: No evidence 80% of diseases transmitted by hand

The WHO is again advising the general public to be on the look-out and avoid misleading information on how diseases are spread across the world.

The World Health Organization, or WHO, in its advice on how to prevent the spread of Covid-19, suggests people wash their hands with soap and water or clean them with an alcohol-based hand rub. The health agency has not endorsed any particular brand of soap or hand sanitiser.

A disease is any harmful deviation from the normal structural or functional state of an organism. It is generally associated with certain signs and symptoms and is different from physical injury.

Diseases can be communicable or noncommunicable, according to the WHO.

Communicable, or infectious, diseases are caused by bacteria, viruses, parasites and fungi. These can be spread directly or indirectly from one person to another, through a number of ways:

• Ingesting contaminated food or water
• Insect bites or contact with infected animals
• Contact with contaminated body fluids or faeces
• Direct contact with infected blood
• Sexual transmission

Noncommunicable diseases are also known as chronic diseases. They are not passed from person to person and include cancers, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. The WHO identifies them as the leading cause of death globally. (Note: In Africa and other low-income regions, communicable diseases are the leading cause of death.)

We therefore asked experts if Aproko Doctor’s claim could be accurate. They variously described the claim  as misleading, exaggerated or outright incorrect.

The WHO told Africa Check it did not have information showing the share of communicable diseases transmitted by hand or touch. “The WHO doesn’t have this kind of data,” said spokesperson Audrei Muchnik.

The claim is misleading according to Dr Mary Stephen, a technical officer for the agency’s Africa unit. While most infectious diseases are transmitted from person to person or by feco-oral transmission, the hand “is not the only way diseases are transmitted”, Stephen said.

“It is better to say infectious diseases are commonly transmitted from person to person through direct contact, droplets or contact with contaminated fomites [inanimate objects], surfaces or objects,” she said.

Egemba told Africa Check he meant infectious diseases only. However, a number of experts said there was no evidence that supported such a share, whether of infectious or non-infectious diseases.

We rate the claim as misleading.

This message is brought to you by Sky Fm in collaboration with Code For Africas’iLab Data Journalism Program supported by DW Akademie