Noting that each year in America almost 2 million patients develop infections while hospitalized—with an estimated 90,000 of them dying as a result—the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta recently released new guidelines for doctors emphasizing the role of hand hygiene in reducing the spread of infection.
Compiled by the Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee and the HICPAC/SHEA/APIC/IDSA Hand Hygiene Task Force, the report, entitled ""Guideline for Hand Hygiene in Health-Care Settings,"" is a virtual encyclopedia of hand sanitation practices.
""Clean hands are the single most important factor in preventing the spread of dangerous germs and antibiotic resistance in healthcare settings,"" explains CDC director Julie Gerberding, MD, MPH. The CDC's solution?—for doctors and health care professionals to use alcohol-based hand rubs in conjunction with traditional soap and water.
American Medical Association research reportedly shows that alcohol-based hand rubs reduce the number of bacteria on hands more effectively than does soap and water. It is also more efficient. In one study it was determined that that during the course of an eight-hour shift, an intensive-care unit nurse could save about an hour by using an alcohol-based sanitizer. Moreover, unlike anti-microbial soaps and gels, alcohol-based hand rubs pose little risk of adding to the growing problem of antibiotic resistance.
In its new guidelines, the CDC recommends easy access to a hand sanitizer—either through use of a multi-station hand sanitizing system or via a small bottle of the liquid which can be kept in a coat pocket.
To use an alcohol-based hand rub, says the CDC, simply apply it to the palm of one hand and rub hands together, covering all surfaces of hands and fingers, until hands are dry.
