Pathology Insights

Clean Hands Count

Pallavi Sayal, Surinder Kumar

Abstract


“To err is human”

Health care associated infections (HCAIs) are second to medication errors as a cause of adverse events among hospitalized
patients. Patient safety has become the touchstone of medical care. Failure to perform appropriate hand hygiene is considered
to be the leading cause of HCAI and the spread of multi-resistant organisms. World Health Organization (WHO) First global
safety challenge launched in 2005, Clean Care is Safer Care pledged to handle problem of HCAIs. Final version of WHO
guidelines issued in 2009 include recommendations for indications, techniques and products for hand hygiene.

In this article, we are stressing on the need to increase the pace for improved compliance, implementation strategies and tools recommended
by WHO.


Keywords


healthcare associated infections, hand hygiene, WHO, hand rubs, sanitizers

Full Text:

References


World Health Organization. WHO guidelines on hand hygiene in health care: first global patient safety challenge: clean care is safer care. Geneva, Switzerland:World Health Organization, Patient Safety, 2009.

Kampf G, Kramer A. Epidemiologic background of the hand hygiene and evaluation of the most important agents for scrubs and rubs. Clin Microbiol Review. 2004;17:863–893.

Pittet D, Mourouga P, Perneger TV. Members of the Infection Control Program. Compliance with handwashing in a teaching hospital. Ann Intern Med.1999;130:126–130.

Kretzer EK, Larson EL. Behavioral interventions to improve infection control practices. Am J Infect Control.1998;26:245–253.


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