Is Hand Washing Enough to Stop the Spread of Disease?

[PoopShoot]

Regular soaps only move bacteria off the hands,

Making it NOt a selective pressure for bacterial resistance to soap.

but antibacterial soaps include chemicals which kill bacteria and other microbes, excluding viruses.

Generally they actually don't.  The reason for this is that they can advertise as antibacterial if they leave the hands bacteria-free.  While some do, more often than not, you'll find that they are identical to "regular" soap.  This is why you'll find dish soaps advertise "antibacterial when used as a hand soap".  Dishes don't have the oil layer that causes bacteria to slough off, so dish soap can't guarantee a bacteria free surface.  You are correct that they sometimes contain antibacterial agents, but typically they don't.  Depending on where you live, there might be more stringent advertising laws, but there weren't any in any of the 5 states I've lived in the US and more often than not only falsify the "antibacterial" label if there are bacteria left on the hands after washing, not whether the bacteria are actually dead.

[Tank]

Public Handwashing: More Adults Than Ever (85 Percent) Observed Washing Hands in Public Restrooms

ScienceDaily (Sep. 14, 2010) â€" Mom's advice about cleaning your hands may finally be starting to get through.

In the latest observational study sponsored by the American Society for Microbiology and the American Cleaning Institute® (formerly The Soap and Detergent Association), 85% of adults washed their hands in public restrooms, compared with 77% in 2007. The 85% total was actually the highest observed since these studies began in 1996. The results were announced at the Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, an infectious disease meeting sponsored by the American Society for Microbiology...

So your Mum was right!