Dr. Daniel Sexton spends a lot of his time teaching people what parents usually try to drill into the minds of their 2-year-old children.

"You would think they would've learned this in Kindergarten, but apparently they didn't," said Dr. Sexton, who is a Professor of Medicine at Duke and Director for the infection prevention program at the University and Durham Regional Hospital. "Health professionals, highly-educated people and all people as a matter of fact ... many people who wash their hands make simple mistakes."

A new study from North Carolina State University shows that, despite warnings about H1N1, students aren't washing their hands.

The new study looked at how students washed their hands as recommended during an outbreak of a stomach virus at a university in Ontario. Only 17 percent of them followed posted hand hygiene recommendations. Yet 83 percent of students reported that they did.

Dr. Ben Chapman, assistant professor of Family and Consumer Sciences and food safety extension specialist at N.C. State, co-authored the research. It's the first study to delve into how students behave hygienically in the midst of an outbreak. He said previous studies examined self-reporting data after an outbreak -- and the new research shows that kind of data may be inaccurate.

"Typically, health officials put up posters and signs and rely on self-reporting to determine whether these methods are effective," Chapman said. "And people say they are washing their hands more. But, as it turns out, that's not true."

Korah Wiley, an Anatomy and Physiology instructor at the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics told her students moisturizing during washing is just as important.

"By washing our hands, we're actually changing the pH of our skin because soap is typically basic," Wiley said. "So by washing our hands, we're doing a great job of removing the bacteria and viruses. But now we've changed the ph environment."

She said "bad bacteria" that typically like a "basic pH" are now in a better environment.

"We've washed our hands; removed it, but the next time we come into contact, we've created an environment that's even more suitable for the bad bacteria," she explained. "[We should use] those moisturizers that have a pH [of 4 to 6] ... within what's normal for our skin."

QUESTIONS FOR OUR EXPERTS

CAN THOSE GERMS GET USED TO THE SOAP YOU'RE USING?
"The way soap works ... it gets to an aspect of the bacteria or virus envelope that's very difficult to modify and still allow it to persist. So - it's not likely there will be adaptation or resistance to soaps and gels. For those chemicals that are added as antibacterial agents - resistance can develop against those."
-Korah Wiley

DO I HAVE TO USE ANTIBACTERIAL SOAP?
"In the hospital, we use antibacterial soap because there is a benefit. But from a practical point of view, the soap is to emulsify the dirt and remove it so it is not necessary and it's not required. For ordinary daily use, any soap is adequate."
-Dr. Sexton

DO I HAVE TO USE HOT WATER?
"The temperature of the water has nothing to do with this but the time under the water has everything to do with it."
-Dr. Sexton