An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure! If we all took more care to eat well, to keep ourselves, our homes, and our villages clean, and to be sure that our children are vaccinated, we could stop most sicknesses before they start.
Problems That Come From Lack Of Cleanliness
Cleanliness is of great importance in the prevention of many kinds of infections-infections of the gut, the skin, the eyes, the lungs, and the whole body. Personal cleanliness (or hygiene) and public cleanliness (or sanitation) are both important.
Many common infections of the gut are spread from one person to another because of poor hygiene and poor sanitation. Germs and worms (or their eggs) are passed by the thousands in the stools or faeces (shit) of infected persons.
These are carried from the faeces of one person to the mouth of another by dirty fingers or contaminated food or water. Diseases that are spread or transmitted from faeces-to-mouth in this way, include:
- Intestinal worms (several types)
- Diarrhoea and dysentery (caused by amoebas and bacteria)
- Hepatitis, typhoid fever, and cholera
- Certain other diseases, like polio, are sometimes spread this same way
The way these infections are transmitted can be very direct.