Infection Control Today Magazine

Alcohol-Based Handrubs

Hand Hygiene Issues and Solutions

The rough statistics of hospital infection in the U.S. are well known, but they are reviewed here briefly to emphasize the claim that current approaches for infections control are not working and are unlikely to get better. ...More
February 24, 2012
Posted in News, Hand Hygiene
Researchers to Study How Modification of ABHR Bottles Could Boost Product Usage

Hand hygiene is an integral aspect of infection control. The provision of alcohol-based hand rub (ABHR) gel at patients' bedsides has made effective hand hygiene (HH) more convenient for healthcare workers (HCWs) by overcoming two of the main barriers to HH- time and ...More
September 9, 2011
Posted in News, Hand Hygiene
Researchers Explore Myths Associated with Alcohol-Based Handrubs

Professionals promoting hand hygiene (HH) with multimodal strategies featuring the introduction of alcohol-based handrub (ABHR) are confronted by a common set of impeding opinions regarding the indications, safety and efficacy of ABHR. Some of these could be referred to as ...More
August 12, 2011
Posted in News, Hand Hygiene
Web Camera Used to Assess Hand Hygiene Compliance

Researchers in Japan conducted a study in which a web camera was used to examine hand hygiene adherence. The camera was installed in the intensive care unit (ICU) in September 2010, video from the camera was relayed to the department of infection control via the hospital’s ...More
August 5, 2011
Posted in News, Hand Hygiene
Direct Observation, Handrub Consumption Not Correlated, Study Finds

Direct observation (DO) and alcohol-based handrub (ABHR) consumption (AC) per 1,000 patient days are used to monitor hand hygiene (HH) performance in healthcare, and are increasingly utilized as quality indicators, sometimes for external benchmarking. Infection prevention ...More
July 29, 2011
Posted in News, Hand Hygiene
Camera System is Part of an Automated Hand Hygiene Monitoring System

The use of alcohol-based hand rub for surgical hand preparation has been proposed and a multi-step procedure was promulgated by the World Health Organization in 2009. Researchers from Trinity College Dublin in Ireland and from the University of Alcalá in Madrid, Spain, say ...More
July 15, 2011
Posted in News, Hand Hygiene
GOJO Skin Care Scientist Wins Award for Alcohol-Based Handrub Efficacy Abstract

GOJO Industries, Inc. announces receipt of the APIC 2011 William A. Rutala Award for distinction in scientific discovery. The award, sponsored by Clorox, is given to a member whose abstract most closely reflects the excellence demonstrated by William A. Rutala, an expert in ...More
June 30, 2011
Posted in News, Hand Hygiene
Researchers Report on Patient Ingestion of Copious Amount of Alcohol Hand Sanitizer

Alcohol-based hand sanitizers are an important component of a hospital-based hand hygiene program, however, an unanticipated but potentially adverse byproduct is the intentional consumption of hand sanitizers by patients. In a letter to the editor of the Medical Journal of ...More
June 20, 2011
Posted in News, Hand Hygiene
Alcohol Handrub Use Associated with Reduction in Carbapenem-Resistant P. aeruginosa Infection

Rodrigo Pires dos Santos, MD, PhD, of the Hospital Infection Control Committee at the Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre in Porto Alegre, Brazil, and colleagues, sought to evaluate the impact of ertapenem use in Pseudomonas aeruginosa carbapenem resistance, taking into ...More
June 3, 2011
Posted in News, Hand Hygiene
Alcohol-Based Wipes Shown More Effective Than Rubs in Reducing Bacteria and Spores

Alcohol-based gels and hand rubs dominate the market for hand hygiene products, but that may start to change due to a study conducted by Special Pathogens Laboratory (SPL) to determine which was more effective—wipes or rubs. Published in the November issue of the American ...More
January 2, 2011
Posted in News, Hand Hygiene