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Hand hygiene alone is not enough to prevent infections

Infection Control Monitor, February 1, 2008

While the introduction of alcohol-based hand gel resulted in a significant and sustained improvement in the rate of hand hygiene in two medical-surgical ICUs, that didn't translate into detectable changes in the incidence of healthcare-associated infections, a new study concluded.

Results published in the January issue of Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology found that even after physicians, nurses, and other caregivers almost doubled their use of hand sanitizers, from about 38 percent to nearly 70 percent, infection rates did not change.

The physician who led the two-year study at the Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha said the study shows there is more to infection control than hand hygiene. That is only part of the equation and he pointed to other factors, such as care of IVs and urinary catheters, and proper cleaning of patient rooms to prevent HAIs. The study also found more microbes on the hands of nursing staff who wore rings or who had long fingernails.

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