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Modern medicine still has to contend with the major problem of
infections resulting from patient care.Despite considerable evidence
that appropriate hand hygiene is the leading measure to reduce cross
infection, compliance with recommendations remains notoriously low
among healthcare workers. In highdemand situations, such as in most
critical-care units, or at times of overcrowding or understaffing,
promoting hand cleansing with an alcohol-based handrub solution
seems to be the most practical means of improving compliance. It
requires less time, acts faster , irritates hands less often, and is
superior to traditional handwashing or medicated hand antiseptic
agents. Furthermore , it was used in the only programme that
reported a sustained improvement in hand-hygiene compliance
associated with decreased infection rates. Although easy access to
fast-acting hand-hygiene agents is the main tool of any campaign to
obtain sustained improvement with hand-hygiene practices, a
multidisciplinary approach is necessary to produce behavioural
change.
Lancet infectious Diseases 2001;April:9-20
Journal of Child Neurology |
