Jumat, 04 Mei 2012

MRSA cases plummet as doctors, nurses and patients clean up at hospital sinks

MRSA cases plummet as doctors, nurses and patients clean up at hospital sinks

  • Triple the amount of soap and alcohol gel bought follow launch of 2004 campaign
  • More diligent procedures have saved 10,000 lives says report author
  • Campaign reminded visitors and staff to scrub hands before touching patients, eating food and after going to the toilet

By Phil Vinter

PUBLISHED: 02:35 EST, 4 May 2012 | UPDATED: 04:47 EST, 4 May 2012

Thousands of deaths have been prevented in hospitals because medical staff are being more diligent about washing their hands, a study has claimed.

The high-profile Clean Your Hands campaign to encourage doctors and nurses to use soap and water or alcohol gel between patients has saved more lives than any medical development for a generation, according to the report published in the British Medical Journal today.

Following the launch of the drive in 2004, the amount of soap and alcoholic hand rub bought by NHS trusts almost tripled.

Washing away the problem: The campaign to get staff and the public to was their hands in hospitals has halved the number of MRSA cases, says a new study

Washing away the problem: The campaign to get staff and the public to was their hands in hospitals has halved the number of MRSA cases, says a new study

Over the same period of time MRSA rates in hospitals fell by more than half, while there was a significant drop in the number of Clostridium difficile infections.

Sheldon Paul Stone who led the study, estimated that around 10,000 lives were saved because of the campaign which encouraged medical staff to take the simple step of washing their hands.

He added: ‘If hand hygiene were a new drug, pharmaceutical companies would be out selling it for all they were worth.’

There were around 1,000 deaths from MRSA and 4,000 deaths from C.diff each year in the mid-2000s, with the National Audit Office estimating that it cost over £1billion a year to treat people who developed the infection.

Rates for the superbugs MRSA and C.diff in hospitals rose significantly in the 1990s from just 100 a year to a peak of 6,378 in 2006.

Scrubbing up: Following the launch of the Clean Your Hands campaign in 2004 the amount of soap and alcoholic hand rub bought by NHS trust almost tripled

Scrubbing up: Following the launch of the Clean Your Hands campaign in 2004 the amount of soap and alcoholic hand rub bought by NHS trust almost tripled

The Clean Your Hands campaign reminded visitors and staff to go back to basics by scrubbing their hands before touching patients, eating food and after going to the toilet.

Thousands of posters were put up by bedsides to drive the message home and regular checks were made to ensure hands were kept clean.

The BMJ study found that the number of patients infected with MRSA fell from 1.88 cases per 10,000 bed days to 0.91 over the four-year period.

Over the same time rates of C.diff infection dropped from 16.75 to 9.49 cases, while the cases of MSSA - a bacteria found on the skin - did not fall.

Superbug: An electron micrograph of the MRSA bacteria which has killed thousands of people, but is now on the decline in hospitals

Superbug: An electron micrograph of the MRSA bacteria which has killed thousands of people, but is now on the decline in hospitals

The study also found that hospital trust procurement of soap and alcohol hand rub rose from a combined 21.8ml to 59.8ml per patient bed day over the period.

The increased levels of soap in hospitals was linked to reduced rates C.diff infection, while rising levels of alcohol hand rub were associated with a reduction in MRSA cases.

The number of MRSA infections fell to 1,114 for the period 2011-12.

Studies in 2004 showed one in four doctors and nurses in Britain still did not wash their hands reliably between every patient.

The campaign which ended in 2010 cost £500,000 over four years.

Researchers from University College London Medical School and the Health Protection Agency say 'strong and independent associations' between the rise in soap orders and the fall in infection rates ‘remained after taking account of all other interventions’.

Changing attitudes: Doctors and nurses are now taking more care to wash their hands using soap or alcohol gel between seeing patients

Changing attitudes: Doctors and nurses are now taking more care to wash their hands using soap or alcohol gel between seeing patients

Here's what other readers have said. Why not add your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards.

The comments below have not been moderated.

  • Newest
  • Oldest
  • Best rated
  • Worst rated

Is this to do with having people working in the NHS from countries not having a sewerage/toilet system and now learning about the potential risks of using hands instead of toilet paper.

Report abuse

So it's taken a study costing goodness knows how much to establish what Joseph Lister and Florence Nightingale could have told you 150 years ago?

Report abuse

I bet the rise in infections is strongly correlated with the decline in traditional nursing skills. I guess learning about washing hands, making sure patients are fed and watered and keeping wards clean is far too basic for a degree course.

Report abuse

Were they not washing their hands before? What an awful indictment of how stupid and lazy people in this country had become. I presume these medical staff took a lot of sickies as they probably didn't bother washing hands before they eat. In pre antibiotic days hygiene had to be strictly controlled, but now everyone thinks here is a 'pill' to save them. There isn't. Also, when in hospital I'd advise any patient to wear shoes or slippers on the ward, otherwise, if you pad around in bare feet any dirt picked up gets transferred into your bed. Old etiquette and rules existed for a reason.

Report abuse

Anyone who doesn't wash their hands regularly throughout the day in any situation is a dirty sod - end of.

Report abuse

I always wash my hands thoroughly with soap and water when returning home from shopping, before and during food preparation and absolutely after using the toilet. So many people using public toilets just believe in rinsing swiftly under a running tap when they’ve been to the toilet, plus I have seen people take their mobiles in their too!! At last the importance of hand washing has got through to hospitals. That should extend to clothes and shoes too. A nurse who lives nearby goes to and from the hospital in her uniform, taking untold germs from home, where they have cats and a dog, to the hospital and vice versa.

Report abuse

Poor Florence Nightingale must be turning in her grave.

Report abuse

Finally figured it out have they? I've been bleating on about it for years ... never mind the fancy medical terms, it's just people (probably kitchen staff) not washing their hands after going to the lavatory ... simple! The result is stomach bugs all round. Now all they have to figure out is the connection between hospitals and cruise ships ... with the same stomach bugs!

Report abuse

In January, my daughter spent time in two different hospitals due to serious health conditions. In the first hospital, in the nearest city, the staff were almost OCD, constantly using the handwash as they went into a ward or patient's room, and washing their hands as they left too. There would be several wash stations on a corridor, one at each nurse station, another one outside every ward and every room. Patients were swabbed for MRSA on admittance. In the second hospital, our local one, there were almost no antibacterial handwash stations. Neither nurses or doctors washed their hands when entering or leaving a ward or patient's room, or between touching patients, despite the ward being an emergency medical admissions ward, and that in my daughter's ward, one of the patients had transmissible meningitis. And yet, according to both hospitals, they have both been given five stars for hygiene. I know which hospital I prefer to have my daughter at, and it isn't the local one!

Report abuse

I will name and shame..I went for a blood test in Bournemouth Hospital.....queued from 7.30a.m as i had work to do....Watched all the staff Dr's and general staff arrive....Not one used the hand cleaning facility and I had to ask the nurse to clean her hands before she took my blood..............Its not always the general public to blame...the staff often get complacent AND I THINK THE BIGGEST BUG CARRIER IS SHOES...............The staff shoes are disgusting and the cleaner had a pair of trianers on i would BIN......We were in a village in spain in the winter and on entry....ALL OUTSIDE COATS HAD TO BE REMOVED AND SHOES COVERED WITH PLASTIC SHIELDS AND HANDS CLEANED....N.B. our hospital is forever closing wards due to one bug or another..

Report abuse

The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.

Diposting oleh di

Tidak ada komentar:

Posting Komentar

Langganan: Posting Komentar (Atom)