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Study: Antiseptic handrub key to fewer urinary tract infections in hospitals

Infection Control Monitor, January 23, 2004

French researchers recently concluded that rubbing hands with antiseptic might help prevent health care-associated urinary tract infections, Drug Week reports.

Hand rubbing with an alcohol-based antiseptic is a technique that replaces conventional handwashing that "increases the accessibility of hand hygiene, the efficacy of antisepsis, and skin tolerance," researchers at Hopital Henri Mondor in Creteil found.

"Indwelling urinary catheters are the leading cause of nosocomial urinary tract infections," researchers say. "These invasive devices are generally contaminated by the hands of health care workers inserting or maintaining catheters. Isolation precautions, such as standard precautions, should be implemented to enhance the use of antiseptic techniques when manipulating a device."

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