Human health has been jeopardized due to a lack of understanding about proper hand washing techniques. Because of their underdeveloped immune systems, preschool children are more vulnerable to infectious infections. Hand hygiene inhibits the spread of infectious illnesses. The purpose of this study was to develop a better understanding of pre-school children’s hand hygiene knowledge and behavior on the current situation of COVID-19. A total of 232 children aged 5 and 6 years old from 10 pre-schools in the Sepang region of Selangor, Malaysia, were chosen for this study. A questionnaire containing socio-demographic information, knowledge, and hand hygiene behavior was distributed. A completed hand hygiene education programme, including a video on correct hand washing technique, was presented to the test group. The results were statistically examined using descriptive analysis and an independent t-test. More than 90% of the participants displayed effective hand washing technique. Hand hygiene routine practice was much superior (p < 0.05) in the test group. Indeed, further progress should be made through targeted health education initiatives emphasizing the importance of hand hygiene in health.

Hand hygiene is one of the effective measures to prevent infectious diseases such as hand, foot and mouth disease and COVID-19. Parents involvement as the child's first educator in establishing the child's sanitary behavior are crucial in nurturing good hand hygiene habit. This study aimed to assess parents' knowledge, attitudes, and practice on hand hygiene in relation to childcare during the endemic phase of COVID-19. This cross-sectional study involved parents of pre-school children from the Sepang district of Selangor, Malaysia. The parents were given a set of pre-tested, self-administered questionnaires about their knowledge, attitude, and practice of personal hand hygiene, hand hygiene practice while caring for children, and diseases caused by inadequate hand hygiene. A total of 179 parents, mostly (62%) were mothers with mean age of 37.55 (SD 21.2) involved in this study. The parents had good knowledge (99.4%), good attitude (92.7%) and good (100%) hand hygiene practice. Good attitude was significantly associated with good practice. Good knowledge, attitude, and practice on hand hygiene among parents might be due to repetitive information about the importance of hand hygiene during the COVID-19 pandemic. Efforts should be made to ensure teachers, children and parents are continuously being educated and reminded about hand hygiene not only during COVID-19.