Alcohol-Based Hand Gels Insufficient in Preventing Infection Transmission
A forthcoming article from the American Medical Association News notes that data does not support use of alcohol-based hand gels as the sole means to minimize the incidence of infections resulting from devices, C. diff or drug-resistance bacteria. While the gels are effective to decrease the population of microbes present on the hands of nursing staff members, this new data indicates that multiple approaches to reduce infectious transmission must be introduced.
An article published in the journal Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology notes that hand hygiene is just one approach to reduce transmission, but is not the sole approach required. The research team evaluated two different intensive care units in the University of Nebraska Medical Center over a two year period.
One unit was provided with alcohol-based hand gels while the second was not. After the first year of the study was completed, the availability of the gels was reversity in this cross-over trial. Researchers considered hand hygiene adherence and the incidence of nosocomial infections as the primary outcomes of interest. Compliance with hand hygiene increased, which may be attributed to bystander effect as healthcare workers knew hygiene was being monitored.
Importantly, there were no changes in the incidence of hospital-acquired infections during the study period. Some suggest that this is secondary to the fact that the study took place in a facility with an already low infection rate. Another comment was that the study period and sample size were too small to detect a difference.
Regardless, the consensus appears to agree that hand hygiene is one critical component of efforts to reduce transmission of infectious diseases. Not only do other strategies need to be employed, but facilities need to extend their efforts beyond the current guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
One example is the wearing of rings, an issue not addressed in the CDC guidelines. Data collected from this recent study, however, indicates that nurses wearing rings were as likely to have more microbes present on their hands as if they did not have access to gel-based sanitizers. The study authors note that infection control practices must be more aggressive to combat disease spread.
February 26, 2008 Related topics: Hygiene & Cleanliness