It's a wash
March 20, 2006
Beaver County Times (PA)
Robyn Russo
Beaver Valley Mall in Penn. Is, according to this story, believed to be the center of America's largest hepatitis A outbreak. In the fall of 2003, tainted green onions used in the mall's Chi Chi's restaurant sickened about 650 people, killing three.
The story says that Kathleen Maher, a 17-year-old Sewickley resident and Quigley Catholic High School junior, saw the outbreak as a chance to do some serious scientific research. Maher, the daughter of a nurse and a surgeon with interests in becoming a doctor herself, reasoned that since not everyone who contracted the disease ate at the restaurant, it must have spread due to poor personal hygiene, namely hand washing.
The story adds that Maher hunkered down in a mall bathroom to test her theory, and the results of her project landed her a first place win in the Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Science regional competition and a chance to go to Penn State and compete at the state level.
Maher said she stood in the bathroom nearest the Beaver Valley Mall food court on the day after Thanksgiving, and the days before and after Christmas, three of the most high-traffic days for shoppers. Hiding a clipboard in a magazine, Maher stood casually in the corner, as if waiting for a friend, and watched 200 women wash their hands.
Maher said she wanted to see how many met the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's hand-washing guidelines, which are: wet hands with water, lather with soap and wash for at least 15 seconds, rinse, dry hands and turn off faucet with a paper towel.
Before she started the project, Maher hypothesized that 25 percent of women would follow the guidelines. Her results showed that not a single woman out of the 200 she observed met the guidelines.
Plus, 14.5 percent (29 women) did not even wet their hands after using the bathroom, and 26 percent (54 women) did not use soap. The average length of washing was only five seconds, and just one woman turned off the water faucet with the paper towel.
