Study Explains Why Fist-Bumps are Safer than Shaking Hands

Fist bumping is a better way to greet rather than shaking hands to prevent bacterial transfer, say researchers.

A past clinical data by the University of California suggests shaking hands with doctors and hospital staff can be riskier than with other people. Experts at Aberystwyth University in Wales urge people to replace the traditional friendly gesture with the fist bump especially during flu seasons. Their study used a pair of rubber gloves that were earlier immersed in bacterial-broth and coated in E.coli to test level of bacterial transfer from handshakes, fist bumps and high-fives.

It was found that bacterial transmission by shaking hands and high-fives was 10 and five times more than giving a fist bump, respectively. The duration of hand to hand contact in a fist bump lasts for a very short period of time thereby minimizing the amount of bacterial spread by 90 percent.

"There is definitely a serious side to this story, superficially it is very whimsical, but there is a serious message underneath," Dave Whitworth, lead researcher and professor at the Aberystwyth University told the BBC News.

"If there's a flu pandemic then handshaking might be something you want to think about or in a hospital with the spread of superbugs," he adds.

Harmless strains of Escherichia coli or E.coli bacteria are found in the intestine of warm-blooded animals that help in production of Vitamin K. However, certain types of E. coli cause severe gastrointestinal infections and affect food products resulting in food poisoning.

Doctors and medical practitioners exchange handshakes with their patients to gain trust but current study researchers question the safety of the practice of handholding. Although, fist bumping averts the possibility of contracting deadly bacteria and disease causing virus, experts add poor hand hygiene habits also hike up the risk of disease spread.

"People rarely think about the health implications of shaking hands. But if the general public could be encouraged to fist bump, there is a genuine potential to reduce the spread of infectious diseases," said Whitworth, reports the Evening Telegraph.

More information is available online in the American Journal of Infection Control.