MOVING ANNOUNCEMENT
We have moved our hand hygiene blog to another location. Our new site will give the chance to comment our posts and search older posts easier. We hope that these changes will bring us closer.
New WHO Global Guidelines for the Prevention of Surgical Site Infections
2016.11.04.
The new World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines includes a list of concrete recommendations. As expected surgical hand prepatarion is also among the preoperative recommendations. Interesting novelties people preparing for surgery should always have a bath or shower but not be shaved antibiotics should only be used to prevent infections before and during surgery, not afterwards WHO aims the new guidelines to save lives, cut costs and arrest the spread of superbugs. Read the new guidelines
A new CDC funded research reveals: Nurses’ scrubs and bed railing were the most likely to be contaminated in ICU
2016.11.03.
“We know there are bad germs in hospitals but we’re just beginning to understand how they are spread,” said Deverick J. Anderson, MD, MPH, lead author of the study and associate professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Duke University Medical Center, Durham, N.C To prevent spread of these bugs, three components are especially important: hand washing after all patient encounters; using disposable gloves and gowns when treating patients with specific infections, and meticulous and regular cleaning of patients’ rooms. “This study shows we need to be 100 percent diligent about infection control strategies.” Read the… Read more
New targets for HAI Action Plan
2016.10.26.
In October 2016, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced new targets for the national acute care hospital metrics for the National Action Plan to Prevent Health Care-Associated Infections: Road Map to Elimination (HAI Action Plan). These target goals for reduction of health care-associated infections (HAIs) are ambitious but achievable. The new targets start from a new baseline — and, in some cases, are more aggressive than the previous targets.
Global Handwashing Day
2016.10.15.
Today, October 15th is the Global Handwashing Day, and we believe that this is a really important event. We all fight for the same reason, to prevent hand transmitted infections. Support this initiation with us. #Globalhandwashingday
FDA Rule removes triclosan and triclocarban from over-the-counter antibacterial hand and body washes.
2016.09.04.
” Companies will no longer be able to market antibacterial washes with triclosan and triclocarban because manufacturers did not demonstrate that the ingredients are both safe for long-term daily use and more effective than plain soap and water in preventing illness and the spread of certain infections. Some manufacturers have already started removing these ingredients from their products.” Read more
Millions at risk of drug resistant fungal infections
2016.08.31.
Researchers believe widespread use of fungicides on crops is reducing effectiveness of frontline medicines. “However more than a million people die of fungal infections every year” “There are more than 20 different classes of antibacterial agents, there are only four classes of anti-fungal agents. Our armoury for dealing with deadly fungi is much smaller than the one we have for dealing with bacteria.” “Fungal infections are going to be an increasing problem in coming years and we need to develop the best defences” Read the original article
Volume and hand size matter
2016.08.29.
New research revealed important finding about the handrub volume required to properly cover whole hands. Palm coverage is not influenced by hand size, but dorsum coverage is largely dependent. “1 milliliter handrub is not sufficient for effective hand hygiene. 3 milliliter handrub cover small hands on both sides palms and dorsums. 3 milliliter handrub cover palms but not dorsums of medium and large hands.” We are proud contributors to this research. Read the whole article
Our new publication about objectively assessing the hand hygiene performance of medical students
2016.06.30.
Education of hand rubbing technique to prospective medical staff, employing UV-based digital imaging technology “Based on the participants’ feedback and the evaluation of the infection control specialists, it can be stated that the identification of typically missed patterns and the instant visual feedback have a vital role in improving the hand hygiene technique of prospective medical staff.”