Hand hygiene is described by many health care workers as the single most important tool in preventing the spread of health care-associated infections between patients.
According to WHO, there are few definitive data on the patient-care activities that are most likely to transmit bacteria to health care worker (HCW) hands, but there have been several studies that identified many possibilities. Although bacteria have been found on HCW hands after activities such as wound care, intravascular catheter care, respiratory tract care and handling patient secretions as expected, bacteria also have been found on HCW hands after so-called “clean” contact, such as taking a patient’s pulse, temperature or blood pressure.
Organisms found on HCW hands after such patient contact range from Klebsiella spp., Staphylcoccus aureus, Clostridium difficile, MRSA, and gram-negative bacteria. However, …show more content…
Of these, 75,000 patients die of their infections. CDC Director Thomas Frieden, MD, MHP, said even the most advanced health care will not work if clinicians neglect basic practices such as hand hygiene.
For the second story in a two-part series on infection control in hospitals, Infectious Disease News spoke with several experts, including hospital epidemiologists, to discuss the importance of hand hygiene and reasons behind the variability in hand hygiene compliance.
In the mid-1800s, the concept of hand hygiene was first introduced by a Hungarian physician named Ignaz P. Semmelweis, who found that when physicians washed their hands before delivering babies, it prevented deaths in postpartum women, according to Connie Price, MD, associate professor of medicine at the University of Colorado Denver. Although Semmelweis was initially ridiculed for this suggestion, eventually it was recognized that he was
According to WHO, there are few definitive data on the patient-care activities that are most likely to transmit bacteria to health care worker (HCW) hands, but there have been several studies that identified many possibilities. Although bacteria have been found on HCW hands after activities such as wound care, intravascular catheter care, respiratory tract care and handling patient secretions as expected, bacteria also have been found on HCW hands after so-called “clean” contact, such as taking a patient’s pulse, temperature or blood pressure.
Organisms found on HCW hands after such patient contact range from Klebsiella spp., Staphylcoccus aureus, Clostridium difficile, MRSA, and gram-negative bacteria. However, …show more content…
Of these, 75,000 patients die of their infections. CDC Director Thomas Frieden, MD, MHP, said even the most advanced health care will not work if clinicians neglect basic practices such as hand hygiene.
For the second story in a two-part series on infection control in hospitals, Infectious Disease News spoke with several experts, including hospital epidemiologists, to discuss the importance of hand hygiene and reasons behind the variability in hand hygiene compliance.
In the mid-1800s, the concept of hand hygiene was first introduced by a Hungarian physician named Ignaz P. Semmelweis, who found that when physicians washed their hands before delivering babies, it prevented deaths in postpartum women, according to Connie Price, MD, associate professor of medicine at the University of Colorado Denver. Although Semmelweis was initially ridiculed for this suggestion, eventually it was recognized that he was