SCIENTISTS are seeking people who have caught the knitting bug ...

to knit some bugs of their own.

Researchers at Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU) plan to smash the world record for the largest hand hygiene lesson.

To do so, they will use knitted models of viruses to show what can be on your hands if you don't wash them properly.

And to make sure there are enough bugs to go around, they need volunteer knitters to make 980 bugs.

The project is being led by GCU's Professor Tracey Howe.

She said: "I'm chairwoman of Glasgow City of Science and we have been working to make science accessible to children across the city.

"It's part of our work to make Glasgow a world leading centre of science and encourage more children to study science at school.

"Hand hygiene is a major public health issue and a major cause of illness in the workplace and at school.

"So we wanted to show pupils the science behind hand hygiene."

Knitters are being called on to create models of seven different bugs: friendly bacteria, tuberculosis, penicillin, common cold, swine flu, cholera and salmonella.

The previous hand hygiene record was set in 2012 by the Health Protection Agency in England, with the help of 2147 pupils from 21 schools across the UK.

But Tracey wants to smash that record.

She is now urging all of Glasgow's 140 primary schools to join in, which would involve more than 36,000 children.

Pupils will take part in a 40-minute hand washing lesson taught by nursing students from GCU.

To make the world record official, youngsters will be filmed during the session in March and all schools must start and finish at the same time.

Pupils will learn all about hand washing and how diseases spread.

For knitting patterns and to find out more see www.glasgowcityofscience.com

catriona.stewart@ eveningtimes.co.uk