Back to the Future: Rising to the Semmelweis Challenge in Hand Hygiene

Stewardson, Andrew J.; Allegranzi, Benedetta; Sax, Hugo; Kilpatrick, Claire; Pittet, Didier

doi:10.2217/fmb.11.66

Cited by 31 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 161 publications

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“…Meticulous hand hygiene is the best measure to prevent the common cold; frequent hand washing and avoid touching one's nose and eyes [51][52][53]. The use of alcohol-based hand sanitizers is also effective [54,55].…”

Section: Preventing Viral Infections By Non-immunologic Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Respiratory viral infections in children with asthma: do they matter and can we prevent them?

et al. 2012

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BackgroundAsthma is a major public health problem with a huge social and economic burden affecting 300 million people worldwide. Viral respiratory infections are the major cause of acute asthma exacerbations and may contribute to asthma inception in high risk young children with susceptible genetic background. Acute exacerbations are associated with decreased lung growth or accelerated loss of lung function and, as such, add substantially to both the cost and morbidity associated with asthma. DiscussionWhile the importance of preventing viral infection is well established, preventive strategies have not been well explored. Good personal hygiene, hand-washing and avoidance of cigarette smoke are likely to reduce respiratory viral infections. Eating a healthy balanced diet, active probiotic supplements and bacterial-derived products, such as OM-85, may reduce recurrent infections in susceptible children. There are no practical anti-viral therapies currently available that are suitable for widespread use.SummaryHand hygiene is the best measure to prevent the common cold. A healthy balanced diet, active probiotic supplements and immunostimulant OM-85 may reduce recurrent infections in asthmatic children.

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Section: Preventing Viral Infections By Non-immunologic Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Respiratory viral infections in children with asthma: do they matter and can we prevent them?

et al. 2012

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“…The very low compliance with hand hygiene rules in most hospitals [47] is a major obstacle to preventing the cross-transmission of resistant and susceptible micro-organisms. Life in hospitals and in the community comprises a succession of small mistakes, which usually have little impact but may increase the risk of cross-transmitting resistant micro-organisms.…”

Section: The Gut As the Epicentre Of Bacterial Resistancementioning

confidence: 99%

The gut is the epicentre of antibiotic resistance

Carlet

2012

Antimicrob Resist Infect Control

179

141

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The gut contains very large numbers of bacteria. Changes in the composition of the gut flora, due in particular to antibiotics, can happen silently, leading to the selection of highly resistant bacteria and Candida species. These resistant organisms may remain for months in the gut of the carrier without causing any symptoms or translocate through the gut epithelium, induce healthcare-associated infections, undergo cross-transmission to other individuals, and cause limited outbreaks. Techniques are available to prevent, detect, and treat the carriage of resistant organisms in the gut. However, evidence on these techniques is scant, the only exception being selective digestive decontamination (SDD), which has been extensively studied in neutropenic and ICU patients. After the destruction of resistant colonizing bacteria, which has been successfully obtained in several studies, the gut could be re-colonized with normal faecal flora or probiotics. Studies are warranted to evaluate this concept.

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“…[1] In the first decade of the nineteenth-century hands, washing was accepted as a global standard. Currently, hands washing are a crucial measure for controlling infectious diseases.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bacteriological aspects of hand washing: A key for health promotion and infections control

Ataee

Tavana

et al. 2017

Int J Prev Med

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The aim of this review is to show the historical aspects of hands washing for healthy life and explains how can reduce the transmission of community-acquired infectious agents by healthcare workers and patients. This review article is prepared based on available database. The key words used were hands washing, risk assessment, hands hygiene, bacterial flora, contamination, infection, nosocomial, tap water, sanitizer, bacterial resistance, hands bacterial flora, washing methods, antiseptics, healthcare workers, healthcare personnel, from PubMed, ScienceDirect, Embase, Scopus, Web of Sciences, and Google Scholar. Data were descriptively analyzed. The insistence on hand washing has a history of 1400 years. The research results indicate that the bacteria released from the female washed hands in wet and dry condition was lower than from the male's hands with a significance level (3 CFU vs. 8 CFU; confidence interval 95%, P ≤ 0.001). The valuable results of the study indicated that released amount of bacterial flora from wet hands is more than 10 times in compared to dry hands. In addition, established monitoring systems for washing hands before and after patient's manipulation as well as after toilet were dominant indices to prevent the transfer of infectious agents to the patients. Increasing awareness and belief of the healthcare workers have shown an important role by about 30% reduction in the transfection. Hand washing could reduce the episodes of transmission of infectious agents in both community and healthcare settings. However, hand washing is an important key factor to prevent transmission of infectious agents to patients. There is no standard method for measuring compliance. Thus, permanent monitoring of hand washing to reduce the transmission of infections is crucial. Finally, the personnel must believe that hand washing is an inevitable approach to infection control.

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Back to the Future: Rising to the Semmelweis Challenge in Hand Hygiene

Cited by 31 publications

References 161 publications

Respiratory viral infections in children with asthma: do they matter and can we prevent them?

Respiratory viral infections in children with asthma: do they matter and can we prevent them?

The gut is the epicentre of antibiotic resistance

Bacteriological aspects of hand washing: A key for health promotion and infections control

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