All it takes is for one student or staff member in a school to develop an infectious illness, and in a matter of hours, closure could be on the cards. Jim Taylor, Chief Executive of SaniGuard International, who produce the world’s first dry-on-contact sanitising products believes that whilst schools are breeding grounds for infections such as Influenza, Meningitis, Measles, Mumps and more, prevention via disciplined cleaning and hygiene routines is achievable.

“On average, schools will have over 1,000 pupils and staff on the premises daily and so the amount of bacteria and viruses circulating in these establishments are considerable. Reported figures for July 2008 showed that during the spring term, 60,000 pupils missed classes, meaning almost 3 million school days were lost. (1) Jim explains. “ The costs to the school and the government could be from £0. 2bn - £1. 2bn per week (2) and rising, but these costs could drastically be reduced simply by concentrating on the sources of germs in the schools and establishing regimes that are certain to eliminate them. ” Items that are frequently used by a high number of pupils harbour bacteria and viruses and can transfer microbes via direct contact. Water fountains, toilet seats, computer keyboards, desks and door handles are notable culprits where bacteria, often starting as a single cell, can multiply into millions of cells within 10-12 hours. E. Coli, given suitable living conditions, can grow and form a voracious colony of bacteria alarmingly quickly, leading to multiple cases of vomiting and diarrhoea within hours.

One place where every school is prone to rapid bacteria development is in the gym and associated locker room area. High humidity and consistently high temperatures provide perfect living conditions for bacteria and viruses to thrive and multiply, and the practice of sharing equipment among hundreds of pupils passes infections like wildfire, especially where shared clothing items for sports are involved. Gym apparatus such as multi-purpose benches and exercise bikes can also harbour millions of bacteria and viruses thriving on sweat and dead skin cells, but once again spraying apparatus before and after each workout combined with effective hand-washing practices would significantly reduce infection proliferation. Jim concludes “In addition to general cleaning which simply moves bacteria and viruses around, effective daily sanitisation practices that treat all non-absorbent and absorbent surfaces in classrooms, computer labs, on apparatus and in communal areas, could dramatically reduce the number of days lost to absence and school closure. ”

www.killoncontact.com
1www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1040192
2http://ukpmc.ac.uk/articlerender.cgi