150 Staying Healthy
Cleanliness
➤ Different health
problems are spread
in different ways. For
example, tuberculosis
(TB) germs are
spread through the
air. Lice and scabies
are spread through
clothes and bed
covers.
Many illnesses are spread by germs that pass from one
person to another. Here are some of the most common
ways that germs are spread:
• by touching an
infected person.
• through the
air. For
example,
when someone
coughs, germs in small
drops of spit (saliva)
can spread to other
people or objects.
• through clothes,
cloths, or bed covers.
• by eating
contaminated
food.
1. A man
infected with
parasites
has diarrhea
outside.
• through
insect bites
or animal
bites.
Cleanliness in the community (sanitation), cleanliness
in the home, and personal cleanliness are all important to
prevent these sicknesses by stopping the spread of germs.
For example:
2. A pig eats the
man’s stool.
3. One of the man’s
children plays with the pig
and gets stool on himself.
4. Later, the child starts to
cry and his mother
comforts him and
cleans his fingers
with her
skirt. She
also gets
stool on
her hands.
5.The busy mother prepares
food for the family without
washing her hands first. She
uses her skirt to keep from
burning her hands, forgetting
that it was not clean.
6. The family eats the food.
Soon everyone has diarrhea.
Where Women Have No Doctor 2012