Using two studies of a simple design it has been possible to furnish proof of the influence of hand hygiene prior to insertion of peripheral venous catheters on the incidence of complications. In the first study detailed data were collected anonymously for each patient on the procedure used for catheter insertion or on any complications. Data were collected for around 64% of patients in one hos...

Hand washing is considered the single most important intervention for prevention of nosocomial infections in patients and health care workers. Unfortunately, compliance with standard protocols for hand hygiene in the health care environment, and especially within intensive care areas such as operating rooms and post-anesthesia care units, has been generally poor. In this article, we consider th...

Since the times of Semmelweis, life-threatening hospital acquired infections have been transmitted on the hands of hospital personnel. For several years Semmel-weis desperately tried to convince the colleagues in his gynecological department to wash and disinfect their hands. Most of the professors of surgery and gynecology in Vienna and other medical centers in Europe considered him a fool. Th...

BACKGROUND Postoperative surgical site infections (SSI) are the third most common health care associated infection. Even though several studies have pointed out the benefits of disinfection showers prior to surgery in order to reduce SSI, it remains unclear how to optimize this disinfection procedure. AIM To find evidence for how many times preoperative disinfection showers should be performe...

BACKGROUND The purpose of this work was to study usage of antibiotics, its possible determinants, and patterns of bacterial resistance in Swedish intensive care units (ICUs). METHODS Prospectively collected data on species and antibiotic resistance of clinical isolates and antibiotic consumption specific to each ICU in 1999 were analyzed together with answers to a questionnaire. Antibiotic us...

Current evidence does not favour constructional over functional separation of septic and aseptic surgical procedures in terms of overall hygiene maintenance and incidence of skin and soft tissue infections. In both laminar and turbulent flow air operating theatres, air is not a relevant source of pathogens if surface disinfection is carried out properly.Final cleaning after a septic procedure i...

This study was conducted to determine the main sources of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and disinfection byproduct (DBP) precursors to the McKenzie River, Oregon (USA). Water samples collected from the mainstem, tributaries, and reservoir outflows were analyzed for DOC concentration and DBP formation potentials (trihalomethanes [THMFPs] and haloacetic acids [HAAFPs]). In addition, optical prop...

INTRODUCTION Hand decontamination with alcohol-based antiseptic agents is considered the best practise to reduce healthcare associated infections. We present a new method to monitor hand hygiene, introduced in a tertiary care pediatric hospital in Northern Italy, which estimates the mean number of daily hand decontamination procedures performed per patient. METHODS The total amount of isoprop...

Even though hand hygiene in hospitals is currently considered as the standard of clinical care, the history behind this practice is relatively recent. The practice of hand hygiene among health care workers was first proposed by Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis (1818-1865). He was an assistant professor of Medicine, at a time when puerperal fever was a common cause of maternal mortality. While working a...