Hand Hygiene

If having limited resources at your healthcare institution is forcing you to choose one key infection control-related intervention -- either hand hygiene or environmental hygiene -- to get the most return on investment, what would you select? Researchers have developed a model that can help infection preventionists, healthcare epidemiologists and administrators determine which strategies have a better pay-off from a patient safety perspective and can help guide resource-allocation decisions.

One of the most talked-about issues at last year's IDWeek conference was patient bathing with chlorhexidine gluconate (CHG). The topic was included in a session called "Thorny Issues in Infection Prevention" in which panelists described practical solutions to real-world problems in infection prevention, compared the strengths and weaknesses of the solutions discussed, and debated strategies to assist in the implementation of the solutions presented. Moderated by Charles Huskins, MD, MSc, FIDSA, FSHEA, FPIDS, of Mayo Clinic and Thomas Talbot, MD, MPH, of Vanderbilt University, the panel included Loreen Herwaldt, MD, FIDSA, FSHEA; Susan Ray, MD, FIDSA; Stephen Parodi, MD, FIDSA; Edward Septimus, MD, FIDSA, FSHEA; and Danielle Zerr, MD, MPH, FPIDS. 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) statistics are well known - 1 in every 20 hospital patients acquires an infection while receiving medical care in hospitals. The CDC’s most recent estimates blame these healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) for nearly 100,000 deaths annually.