Hand Sanitizer Cuts MRSA Risk

Each Dab of Alcohol Sanitizer Cut MRSA Risk 1% in British Hospitals

By Daniel J. DeNoon
WebMD Health News

Reviewed By Louise Chang, MD

Dec. 5, 2008 -- Every dab of alcohol hand sanitizer used in British hospitals lowered multidrug-resistant staph (MRSA) infection rates by 1%, a U.K. study shows.

In-hospital infections -- particularly MRSA -- are a huge and growing problem. As part of the solution, the U.K. National Health Service in 2004 launched a national "clean your hands" campaign among health-care workers.

As part of the campaign, dispensers of alcohol hand sanitizer are placed next to each patient's bed. Posters encourage patients to ask every hospital worker they see whether they've washed their hands.

It's working, according to an evaluation of the campaign reported by Sheldon Stone of University College London Medical School at this week's meeting of the Federation of Infection Societies in Cardiff, Wales.

For every extra 1/5 teaspoonful of hand sanitizer used by a hospital, MRSA rates fell by 1%, Stone reported. The program led to a threefold increase in the amount of hand sanitizer and soap used in U.K. hospitals.

"The findings also serve as a reminder that we should be washing our hands in the home and workplace," Stone says in a news release. "Winter is the season when colds and flus abound, and people can protect themselves and stop germs from spreading by frequently washing their hands."

Although MRSA rates dropped during the "clean your hands" campaign, rates of another on-the-rise, difficult-to-eradicate bug -- Clostridium difficile or C. diff -- did not.

The CDC and the FDA will be providing updates as the outbreak continues.

SOURCES: Federation of Infection Societies Scientific Meeting 2008, Cardiff, Wales, Dec. 2-4, 2008. News release, University College London. U.K. National Health Service, National Patient Safety Agency web site.

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