Human hands come into direct contact with everything and everyone, during any procedure, examination etc. Just by touch, enabling it to be a potential vehicle for the spread of nosocomial infections.

This represents a significant cause of hospital acquired infections (HAI), also known as nosocomial infection, which is an infection whose development is favoured by a hospital environment.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organization, and many other health experts promote hand hygiene as the single most important measure in the prevention of hospital-acquired infections. 

Several studies have shown the importance of proper hand hygiene in reducing the incidence of nosocomial infections.

All hospital superbugs can be eliminated with the use of Zitriderm are MRSA, VRE , CRE & many other evolving superbugs.

The most significant contaminations are found on the hands/skin, probably due to the lower level of decontamination practices prevalent in many places. Several studies reveal that, if any part of the skin is contaminated, then there is a risk of cross contamination. It is also revealed that there are high levels of contamination, such as S. Aureus (90% of which are methicillin-resistant), acinetobacter species, candida albicans and bacillus species.

Hand hygiene is described by many health care workers as the single most important tool in preventing the spread of health care-associated infections between patients and others.

According to the WHO, there are few definitive data on the patient-care activities that are most likely to transmit bacteria and other microorganisms to health care worker (HCW) hands, but there have been several studies that identified many possibilities. 

Although micro organisms have been found on HCW hands after patient examination, handling patient secretions and after so-called “clean” contact, such as taking a patient’s pulse, temperature or blood pressure and during many other patient care activities, microorganisms have been found on HCW hands..

Organisms found on HCW hands after such patient contact range from Klebsiella spp., Staphylococcus aureus, Clostridium difficile, MRSA and gram-negative bacteria. 

However, direct patient contact is not the only way HCW hands can be contaminated.

HCWs can acquire microorganisms on their hands by touching contaminated surfaces in the healthcare or patient environment and simply by touching a contaminated surface or a chart at the nurses’ station, according to the literature.

Washing hands before and after patient contact seems like a simple solution to prevent the spread of microorganisms between healthcare providers and patients. Most hospitals have hand hygiene policies in place that guide their employees to do just that. But it is not as simple as it seems.

When we look at all of the things that we can do to prevent infections in the hospital, one of the most important things about hand hygiene is that it works for so many different types of organisms. The issue is that we have to practice it at a high level of compliance for it to work. There are so many opportunities for hand hygiene, and it is difficult to get to a level of compliance where we are able to make changes to infection rates.

Often, even the most advanced health care will not work if clinicians and other workers neglect basic practices such as hand hygiene.

The five moments of hand hygiene are outlined by WHO:

1. Before patient contact; 
2. before aseptic task; 
3. after bodily fluid exposure; 
4. after patient contact; 
5. and after contact with patient surroundings.

HCWs do not realize that they are carrying pathogens on their hands because they cannot see them. Another reason is they can not link their contact with a patient, when pathogens may be transmitted from their contaminated hands, to an infection that may result days or even months later.

Many studies have shown that the principal reason HCWs do not wash their hands enough is because they are too busy, or there are not enough hand disinfectants available.

All healthcare facilities need to have policies that support hand hygiene. Hand hygiene is more important than ever with the rising threat of multidrug-resistant organisms. Antibiotic stewardship programs are powerful, but they are not going to be effective if we do not have good, solid infection control like hand hygiene.

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