Do Hand Sanitizers Really Cut Down on Illness?

On a personal level, good hand hygiene clearly can make a difference in health. A 2008 study in The American Journal of Public Health concluded that improvements in hand hygiene, regardless of how the participants cleaned their hands, cut gastrointestinal diseases by 31 percent and respiratory infections by 21 percent.

"Do Hand Sanitizers Really Cut Down on Illness?" is from the May 15, 2017 Health section of The New York Times. It was written by Karen Weintraub and narrated by Kristi Burns.