Disease control expert urges health workers to clean hands and save lives

Jun 9 2009

Australia's World Health Organization infectious disease expert and Director of Hand Hygiene Australia has urged all health professionals to improve infection control and save lives by adopting the new National Hand Hygiene Initiative.

The world-first Initiative is based on award-winning Australian research that shows using alcohol-based hand rub is the single-most effective way to prevent and control bloodstream infections, such as golden staph.

"This simple 15-second hand rub routine has the potential to save the lives of 1,500 Australians a year," explains Professor Lindsay Grayson, Director of Hand Hygiene Australia. Professor Grayson demonstrates the technique in the attached vodcast.

"We know that improving hand hygiene compliance in the health community is the single most effective method for preventing serious blood stream infections."

With the global 'swine flu' H1N1 epidemic focusing community attention on communicable diseases, Professor Grayson says the health profession needs to get the basics of hand hygiene right to prevent the spread of both bloodstream infections and influenza.

Research in Australian hospitals shows that where health workers consistently use alcohol-based hand rub, the rate of blood stream infections like Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) or 'golden staph' disease can be halved.

"About 12,000 blood steam infections associated with health care occur in Australia each year, of which 4,500 are due to Staphylococcus aureus blood stream infections (SAB) including 'golden staph'", Professor Grayson explains.

Because one third of patients with an SAB die within 30 days of infection, preventing infection transmission has the potential to save the lives of approximately 1,500 patients per year.

Established and funded by the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (ACSQHC), Hand Hygiene Australia will implement the National Hand Hygiene Initiative, including a standardised national system and education for hand hygiene compliance.

For more information and an online learning package visit: http://www.hha.org.au