Healthcare hand wash study
This article was originally published in The Rose Sheet
Executive Summary
Surgical staff complied better with a hand-rubbing protocol using a 75% aqueous alcohol solution than with a hand-scrubbing protocol using antiseptic preparations containing 4% povidone iodine or 4% chlorhexidine gluconate, Jean Jacques Parienti, MD, Cote de Nacre University Hospital Center, et al. report in Journal of the American Medical Association Aug. 14. Study compared "five minutes of hand-scrubbing with antiseptic soap" with a protocol including "an optional one-minute hand wash with nonantiseptic soap and tap water, followed by five minutes of hand-rubbing with a liquid aqueous alcohol solution alone." Products used in scrubbing protocol were Asta Medica's Betadine and Astra-Zeneca's Hibiscrub, both approved for OTC use in U.S. Sterillium was used in the rubbing protocol. Study, which began in January 2000 and ran for 16 months, also found tolerance of rubbing protocol to be greater. However, protocols were "comparable" in regard to preventing surgical site infections during routine surgical practice...