News-Letter

A recent study indicates that frequent hand washing with antibacterial soaps can decrease MRSA risk. (Robin Shaw/news-letter) [Click to enlarge]

Researchers have found that patients of doctors who wash their hands are less likely to contract a serious infection that can cause pneumonia or surgical wound complications.

According to a new study done by Johns Hopkins Hospital, patients at risk for MRSA (methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus) that had doctors and nurses who washed their hands were less likely to contract the infection.

Dr. Xiaoyan Song, an infection control and antibiotic management expert, Dr. Sara Cosgrove, associate hospital epidemiologist, and Dr. Trish Perl, director of hospital epidemiology and infection studied MRSA among 2,279 patients with an average admittance of 19 days at Johns Hopkins Hospital between 2000 and 2002. Before admittance, none of the patients had a history of an MRSA infection but 3.4 percent of the patients developed one during their stays.

There were a couple of differences between those that developed the infection and those that did not. The people that developed this infection were sicker on average, having multiple medical problems. These people stayed in Intensive Care Units and were often transferred from other health care facilities. Researchers say that the unclean hands of the health care workers are the cause of these MSRA infections.

Researchers failed to discover a connection between patients that developed resistant infections and patients that received antibiotics. Despite the fact that patients who developed MSRA infections were 2.6 times more likely to have been treated with an antibiotic, this treatment was determined not the be the only cause of these infections.

"We know there's more to MRSA infection than just exposure to antibiotics," said Dr. Song. "So the best way to avoid these infections is for doctors and nurses to wash their hands before they touch you, and for patients to tell their caregivers to wash their hands before they touch you."

Proper hand washing lasts for 10 to 15 seconds with water at a warm temperature. As long as soap is used, hand washing should be effective. Since antibacterial soap has not been shown to be more effective than regular soap, any soap is fine. All the nooks and crannies of the hand must be cleaned, including under the fingernails.

After the hands have been cleaned, they must be rinsed thoroughly under running water. Authorities also recommend that hand washers use a paper towel after washing hands to open door handles because of the bacteria being harbored there.

People need to wash their hands often during the day. Hand washing is recommended when hands are visibly soiled or after any of the following instances: using the washroom (including changing diapers), sneezing, before and after eating, handling food, drinking or smoking, touching raw meat, handling garbage, visiting or caring for sick people, and handling pets, animals or animal waste.

The researchers data, titled "Prior Antibiotic (ABX) Exposure Is Not Associated with Methicillin-Resistant Staphlococcus aureus (MRSA)," was presented at the 44th Interscience Conference On Antimicrobial Agents And Chemotherapy At The Washington Convention Center.

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