Hand Hygiene

A simulation of how the so-called superbug carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) might spread among healthcare facilities found that coordinated efforts prevented more than 75 percent of the often-severe infections that would have otherwise occurred over a five-year period. The study was led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and published last month in the American Journal of Epidemiology.

Researchers are advising healthcare professionals to consider the size of their hands when it comes to using alcohol-based hand sanitizer, to ensure adequate coverage by the product. In their study of whether the volume of alcohol-based handrub (ABHR) used by healthcare workers affects the residual bacterial concentration on their hands according to hand size, Bellissimo-Rodrigues and colleagues (2015) found that bacterial reduction was significantly lower for large hands compared with small hands, which suggests a need for customizing the volume of alcohol-based handrub for the most effective hand hygiene. It's an aspect of hand hygiene that many individuals may not have considered until now, according to study co-author Didier Pittet, MD, MS, of the University of Geneva Hospitals and faculty of medicine in Geneva, Switzerland; who says that this is a new topic that has not been fully explored by research.