Flu season in Europe: Bosnians excel at hand hygiene, Dutch lag behind

As Europe grapples with flu season, personal hygiene is more important than ever.

The infection, formerly known as the flu, may not seem so dangerous thanks to advances in vaccines, but it kills around 27,600 people each year in Europe.

Handwashing is a basic hygiene practice that many take for granted, but there is wide variation among European countries in their level of commitment to the practice, according to available data on Europeans’ hand washing habits. hand washing.

According to the latest figures available on Statista, which date back around ten years, half of the Dutch don’t really bother to wash their hands after going to the toilet.

Italians are facing the challenge of money in dirty hands, as 43% of them refuse to wash their hands once again with soap.

Spaniards come third, with 39% not washing their hands after using the toilet, closely followed by the French with 38% and the Russians with 37%.

Next come the Austrians and Latvians, with 35% of people in both countries not using the reliable soap and water method after finishing using the toilet.

Poles score higher on handwashing, with 68% of Poles washing their hands.

In the Czech Republic and Ukraine, 71% of the population washes their hands, after 72% in Bulgaria.

Next comes Switzerland with 73%, followed by Ireland with 74% and the United Kingdom with 75%.

Nearly a quarter of Finns don’t seem to want to wash their hands after using the toilet, but 76% of them do, trailing 78% in their Scandinavian neighbors Sweden, which also scores from Germany and Iceland.

In the 80% bracket, we’re starting to see countries taking hand hygiene a little more seriously.

Serbia comes next with 83%, after Romania with 84% and Kosovo with 85%. The ratio seems to be the same for the Portuguese as well, since only 15% of their population refuses to wash their hands after using the banho house.

Now let’s move on to the two countries that seem to take hand hygiene very seriously: Bosnia and Herzegovina and Turkey.

The Turks take silver in hand hygiene with 94%, just like their cool shooter did at the Olympics with his steady hand on the trigger.

Bosnians take it up a notch, however, with 96% of them rubbing their hands with soap after using the toilet.

The data may be a little dated, but as they say, old habits die hard.