But it is one of the key messages being delivered in a bid to reduce the chances of the spread of swine influenza.

Health officials have issued warnings to schools which have been passed on to parents and children. Workplaces are providing antiseptic hand-wash; the Federal Government is rolling out the message at press conferences.

Even ACT Chief Minister Jon Stanhope emphasised the fact during talk-back radio last week, and repeatedly said that while it sounded trite, it made good sense.

But how effective can it be in the community, given that swine flu is primarily airborne? Indeed, in recent years the public has been bombarded with calls to be a little less vigilant in sterilising the environment for our children because immune systems are weakening. The old saying, ''a little bit of dirt won't hurt them'', has been regularly resurrected. ANU microbiologist Professor Peter Collignon, for one, has been a regular contributor to the argument against the over-use of commercial antibacterial washes, describing them as a waste of money and a possible problem in relation to antibiotic resistance in disease bacteria.

Hand-washing at least gives the concerned public a focus, but at a community level it can hardly be the convincing answer against such a virus.

But in one area hand-washing takes on major significance. Since the 1880s, when English surgeon Joseph Lister introduced sterilisation for surgical instruments and cleaning wounds, we have known that cleanliness saves lives in health facilities. It helps prevent the spread of disease and infections. Yet we continue to have a hospital infections rate of 10 per cent for those staying in an Australian health facility.

The longer the stay, the greater the infection risk.

Why? Infection control experts have for years been warning that overworked doctors and nurses flit from patient to patient without adequate hand-washing. Facilities to do so are often inconveniently placed in wards, or there is simply not enough time to wash effectively.

And our health facilities are at the coalface, not just of influenza, but of many potential killers, such as golden staph.

Yes, the public is looking for guidance on the threat from swine influenza, but in the longer term, our governments should be focusing more on providing the means by which professionals can avoid a growing health problem in Australia.

To be trite, it could be a matter of investing in simple plumbing.