HAND WASHING AND PERSONAL HYGIENE: LOSE ORGANISMS VERY EASILY

“An estimated 2 million patients get a hospital-related infection every year and 99,000 die from their infection.

– Centres for Disease Control and Prevention”

‘’In the United States, hospital patients get an estimated 722,000 infections each year. That’s about 1 infection for every 25 patients. Infections that patients get in the hospital can be life-threatening and hard to treat. Hand hygiene is one of the most important ways to prevent the spread of infections’’.-CDC.gov

INTRODUCTION

Hands are considered to be the primary mode of infectious diseases; especially for those working and visiting hospitals and health care centres. Because of the frequent contact with hands and multiple surfaces, the incidence of cross-contamination is significantly increased.

According to the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), hand washing is the single most important and effective method of preventing disease transmission. In conjunction with the American Society for Microbiology, The Soap and Detergent Association (SDA) conducted a survey to test public knowledge about this concern. The results indicated that half of the participants recognized hand washing as the primary way to prevent the common cold and the flu and the vast majority practiced these measurements consistently.

However, when comparing the survey to actual observation research studies, the SDA found that there is a gap between “what people say and what they do." Particularly in hospital and health facilities-settings, keeping your hands clean is typically restricted by time constraints and access to bathroom facilities. The research indicates that compliance of hand hygiene is largely dependent on three main factors:

1.        Education on the use and benefits,

 2.       Availability of appropriate facilities, and

3.        Convenience of method.

Why is hand washing important?

One hundred and fifty years ago, a physician named Ignaz Semmelweis who  worked in the maternity ward of the Vienna Lying-in Hospital, hypothesized that disinfection of hands could stop transmission of disease from cadavers to pregnant women. Mortality rates of women delivered by the medical students fell to the same level as those of women delivered by the midwife trainees when the medical students' hands were soaked in chlorinated lime after autopsies and before examining patients.

Semmelweis had recognized that puerperal fever was being spread by contaminated hands (Hospital Epidemiology Service, 2002). "Hand washing, when done correctly, is the single most effective way to prevent the spread of communicable diseases. Good hand washing technique is easy to learn and can significantly reduce the spread of infectious diseases in both children and adults" (Utah Dept. of Health, 1996).

How is it effectively achieved?

The success of infection control implementations is highly dependent on the method's efficacy in decreasing pathogens as well as the accessibility to participants. Traditional hand washing with soap and water is initially considered to be the best implementation. However, alcohol-based hand sanitizers are more convenient, particularly to health workers. So which is better?

Hand washing is an effective means of eliminating germs. As mentioned previously, it is the most important way to prevent infection transmission. It is the most standard practice available and instilled in most people in early childhood. However, hand washing compliance is a significant concern. The required facilities, such as sinks, soap, and paper towels, are not always available. An even more significant problem for people is the amount of time it takes to wash their hands. The busy schedule of a health workers and the on-the go lifestyle is a deterrent to thorough hand washing. Many people are also uneducated about the appropriate and effective way to wash hands.

Alcohol-based sanitizers offer resolutions to many of the problems presented by traditional hand washing. Their use requires no water or paper towels. No additional education is needed to make the product effective. Alcohol-based sanitizers were also found more effective than antimicrobial soaps. Despite the increased effectiveness and compliance, hand sanitizers are not useful in all situations. The CDC confirms that alcohol-based hand sanitizers are "not appropriate for use when hands are visibly dirty or contaminated.

The advantages and drawbacks of both hand washing and the use of hand sanitizers serve to conclude that a combination of both is the most effective. Hand washing should be reinforced as the primary method of decreasing infection. In addition, alcohol-based hand sanitizers should be encouraged in situations when hand washing is unavailable.

http://www.who.int/gpsc/5may/How_To_HandRub_Poster.pdfNow that we have the fear of Ebola around us. There is need to intensify the need for hand washing especially in health care centres and hospitals. Healthcare providers should practice hand hygiene at key points in time to disrupt the transmission of micro-organisms to patients including: before patient contact; after contact with blood, body fluids, or contaminated surfaces (even if gloves are worn); before invasive procedures; and after removing gloves (wearing gloves is not enough to prevent the transmission of pathogens in healthcare settings).

Let start it now.