1887

Journal of Medical Microbiology logo

Volume 62, Issue 4

Hand contamination during routine care in medical wards: the role of hand hygiene compliance Free

Abstract

The hands of healthcare workers (HCWs) are the most common vehicle for the transmission of micro-organisms from patient to patient and within the healthcare environment. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of a multimodal campaign on the type and amount of resident and transient flora and the presence of potential risk factors for hand contamination during routine care. A before–after (PRE and POST periods) interventional study was carried out in medical wards of a tertiary care hospital. Eighty-nine samples were analysed. Samples were cultured immediately before patient contact using a glove-juice method. Data collected included socio-demographic and risk factors for hand contamination. Flora was measured as log c.f.u. ml and evaluated by comparing median values in the PRE and POST periods. Transient flora was isolated from the hands of 67.4 and 46.1 % of HCWs in the PRE and POST periods, respectively (<0.001). , spp. and meticillin-sensitive were the predominant contaminants. Resident flora was isolated from 92.1 % of HCWs in the PRE period and from 70.8 % in the POST period (<0.001). The meticillin-resistant coagulase-negative staphylococci log c.f.u. count ml decreased from 1.96±1.2 to 0.89±1.2 (mean±; <0.001), and the global flora count decreased from 2.77±1.1 to 1.56±1.4 (<0.001). In the POST period, the wearing of fewer rings (<0.001), shorter fingernail length ( = 0.008), a shorter time since recent hand hygiene (HH) ( = 0.007) and an increased use of alcohol-based hand rub instead of soap (<0.001) were documented. The HH multimodal strategy reduced the number of risk factors and the level of HCW hand contamination.

  • Received:
  • Accepted:
  • Published Online:
© 2013 SGM
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2013-04-01
2024-04-25
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Hand contamination during routine care in medical wards: the role of hand hygiene compliance
J. Med. Microbiol. 62, 623 (2013); https://doi.org/10.1099/jmm.0.050328-0
/content/journal/jmm/10.1099/jmm.0.050328-0
/content/journal/jmm/10.1099/jmm.0.050328-0
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