WASH your damn filthy hands!!!!!!!!

...Shockingly, a variety of studies confirm under half of all US health workers wash as often required, a point of frustration among the over 4,000 conference attendees. "It doesn't matter if it's God himself or the governor or whoever, you have to wash up," said Rebecca Peters, an infection control staffer at York Hospital in York, Pennsylvania.

The infection preventionists confirmed they experience resistance when trying to implement infection control standards and point to a number of issues such as too little time, too many patients, inconvenience, and low paid staffers not understanding or implementing appropriate and consistent procedures. Bryant added that her fire marshal limited the number and placement of hand sanitizer dispensers over fears the alcohol-based gel could be a fire hazard, a move that adversely impacted infection control measures.

According to Center of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) figures for 2005, nearly 19,000 people died in the US from MRSA; an additional 94,000 were seriously sickened. Of the 19,000 patients studied in 2005, 2,000 were healthy people contracting community-based MRSA. In Canada, about 220,000 people are sickened and an additional 8,000-12,000 die annually. Patients surviving MRSA often require amputations to cure infections. MRSA has infected players from four NFL teams, some NYC firefighters, and has infected or killed a growing number of school children.

Dr. Semmelweiss Was Right: Washing Hands Prevents Infection

Last year marked the 150th anniversary of one of the most important medical discoveries. In 1847, Dr. Ignaz Semmelweiss, a physician in a Vienna hospital, discovered that fatal infections were spread among patients by doctors who failed to wash their hands between examinations. Semmelweiss immediately instituted a disinfecting procedure whereby physicians were required to wash in a chloride of lime solution after autopsies and with soap and water between patient visits. Doctors also had to change into clean lab coats before examining patients. As a result, hospital mortality rates from infectious diseases declined.

Today, hand washing should be a simple, standard antiseptic technique employed in hospitals and other health care settings to prevent the spread of illnesses.

However, studies conducted at hospitals worldwide over the past three decades have shown that many doctors and nurses do not follow this practice.

Prevalence of Hospital-Acquired Infections

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that 2.4 million Americans acquire an infection in hospitals each year and that half of these infections are preventable by proper hand washing. Furthermore, hospital-acquired infections cause or contribute to 100,000 deaths annually, according to CDC officials. Patient-to-patient transmission of infectious microorganisms can occur via the hands of hospital personnel and contact with contaminated patient-care equipment or surrounding surfaces. Some viruses can survive for up to three hours on inanimate surfaces, such as doorknobs.

A 1994 CDC report, "Hand Washing - The Semmelweiss Lesson Forgotten?" notes that programs to improve hand washing practices have had limited success. Operation Clean Hands, sponsored by the American Society for Microbiology (ASM), was launched in 1996 to educate health care professionals and the general public about health risks associated with poor hand washing habits. The American Medical Association (AMA), in cooperation with the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Organizations, adopted resolutions in 1995 and 1996 to improve hand washing practices in celebration of the 150th anniversary of Semmelweiss' discovery.

Chlorine Fights Infections in Hospitals

Chlorine bleach cleans and disinfects

work surfaces and equipment

laundry supplies and patient rooms

cafeterias and food service areas


Antibiotic Resistance Poses Risks

Both the ASM and the AMA caution that an over-reliance on antibiotics, rather than hand washing, for infection control poses a serious public health risk for outbreaks of antibiotic-resistant infections and can be especially dangerous for immunocompromised patients. Thirty-five years ago, most infections could be successfully treated with standard antibiotics, such as penicillin.

The CDC has now warned doctors and public health officials of the rapid ncrease of infections caused by drug-resistant bacteria -- bacteria that can mutate to protect themselves against an antibiotic -- particularly those resistant to vancomycin, an expensive and powerful antibiotic that is used as a last resort to treat the most virulent infections. Currently, about 95 percent of the infections caused by Staphylococcus aureus, one of the most common germs in hospitals, are resistant to penicillin and, increasingly, to vancomycin.

Infectious diseases remain the leading cause of death and disease worldwide and the third leading cause of death in the United States. Hand washing is the first line of defense against infectious diseases. Physicians who wear gloves also should wash their hands because gloves may become perforated during use and because bacteria can multiply rapidly on sweaty, gloved hands. In addition, gloves may protect the wearer but not necessarily the patient. The CDC's Guidelines for Hand Washing and Hospital Environmental Control note that hand washing is still considered the single most important procedure for preventing the spread of infections and should be practiced regularly as part of appropriate hospital infection control measures.

I looked in the store today at liquid soaps in order to make some homemade anti-mealy bug soap spray for my lavender plants in the yard.
All, or it seemed, all had additives and most had antibacterial properties.

There is this germ fear that is, frankly, frightful. Appropriate for some with some diseases, but stupid and dangerous fear re nature in general. Much more dangerous in long term than touching door knobs.