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Link: First product
A cartoon animation explaining the importance of proper hand-washing for healthcare workers and patients is the first innovation to be turned into a commercial product through Health Enterprise East (HEE), the NHS innovation hub for the East of England based at Papworth Hospital in Cambridgeshire. The multi-media campaign uses a character - MAX� - to show staff the correct way to wash hands. Available as a screensaver on Trust PCs and supported by posters, Matrons issue staff with MAX� badges once they have watched the animation and demonstrated the technique. The badge also poses the question, 'Ask - are my hands clean?' to encourage patients to challenge staff and insist on hand cleanliness. The concept of using animation to demonstrate a correct approach to hand-washing originated from a partnership between Vis-IT Ltd., and the Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. This partnership developed the concept, adding specific initiatives including 'Ask - are my hands clean?' and the site specific Screensaver.
Link: Creating a manual for proper hand hygiene and its clinical effects..
To prevent cross-infections, we created a manual for the treatment of infectious wounds that clarifies when to wash one's hands and when to wear gloves. METHODS: Six patients with widespread infectious wounds caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) were treated. The bacterial count on the hands of the staff was calculated. We then compared the number of patients with MRSA isolated, and typed the MRSA isolates using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). RESULTS: The pathogenic bacterial count among hospital staff before treatment/before hand hygiene was 8.2 x 10 colony-forming units (cfu)/hand, which were not detected before treatment/after hand hygiene. The pathogenic bacterial count on the hands before hand hygiene/after treatment climbed to 9.1 x 10(5) cfu/hand, and after treatment/after hand hygiene decreased to 0.38 cfu/hand. The number of patients with MRSA isolates before this protocol was 15/402 (3.7%), but that level significantly decreased to 5/411 (1.2%) after implementation of the manual. There were 13 strains of type F by PFGE before the manual was adopted, but five strains of MRSA isolated after the present manual was enforced were all observed to have different migration patterns. CONCLUSION: A hand hygiene manual is effective for decreasing the rate of cross-infection.
Link: Bradenton Herald
Helping my Mom recover from a serious staph infection has made me obsessive about washing my hands. The health beat has also made me aware of others' health habits, or lack thereof, as demonstrated by the lady in the fancy clothes. She shouldered her leather handbag and booked out the door without a drop of water touching her hands. Her behavior reminded me of that TV commercial that shows a young woman fastening her seat belt, locking her car, dead-bolting her front door and fixing a healthy organic meal only to light up a cigarette after she finishes off her sprouts and tofu.
Washing hands is not kids' stuff - not in the era of bird flu and MRSA, which stands for Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, a common pathogen that infects wounds and prevents them from healing. Once entrenched, MRSA can be extremely difficult to treat. If it gets into the blood stream, it can be lethal. Handwashing, the CDC says, it the most important thing one can do to keep from getting sick.
Link: Reporter online.com
You walk into the grocery store‚ grab the handle of a cart and as you stand in front of the canned soups pondering which varieties to purchase‚ you nervously bite your fingernail. And that could start quite the chain of events. On the human hand‚ both resident bacteria and transient bacteria exist‚ according to Mary Doherty‚ head of the Employee Health and Infection Control department at Central Montgomery Medical Center in Hatfield Township. Resident bacteria is there all the time – it lives there – and doesn’t cause problems for the person. Transient bacteria can be picked up from the supermarket grocery cart‚ door knobs and other places‚ she said. How long the transient bacteria lives depends on what it is‚ Doherty said. C. difficile bacteria‚ found in soil‚ can last for months‚ but can be gotten rid of during regular hand washing. Some viruses and bacteria can live from 20 minutes and up to two hours or more on hard surfaces‚ such as door knobs‚ according to the cleanhandscoalition.org Web site.
Link: Belfast Telegraph.
The disclosure in last night's Belfast Telegraph that bacteria known to cause MRSA has been found on mobile phones used by doctors and nurses provides disturbing new evidence as to how easily the superbug can be spread - and also serves as an alarming reminder of the vulnerability of every hospital patient. Although the latest research involves just Craigavon Area Hospital, the author of the report, Dr Nizam Damani, has no doubt that the findings would be replicated in every hospital in Northern Ireland. It should be a wake-up call for the NHS. As Dr Damani says, the fundamental problem is a lack of proper hand hygiene. Quite simply, health workers are not disinfecting their hands as often as they should.
Link: Yahoo! Finance.
Skinvisible believes its Chlorhexidine Hand Sanitizer may offer an alternative to the alcohol-based hand sanitizers now used worldwide in the health care industry. Skinvisible's product has been tested against a variety of bacteria of concern to the health care industry, including the Super Bugs VRE and MRSA, as well as Clostridium Difficile. The product will be undergoing further tests soon against other viruses, including SARS, Influenza A (H1 and H3), as well as the B viruses.
Link: West Essex Guardian Series
CHALLENGE staff you think may not have washed their hands if you are ever at Whipps Cross Hospital. That's the message from one disgusted visitor.
In a letter to the Guardian a woman visitor claimed staff were not washing their hands regularly.
The woman said she noticed doctors, nurses, porters and clerical staff failing to use the alcohol rubs at each ward entrance.
She was visiting a friend who was a patient in the hospital for several weeks before Christmas and said she was now worried about the spread of the MRSA superbug which could be present in hospitals.
In her letter to the Guardian, she claimed that only a handful of staff washed their hands every time they went into a ward.
She added: "It does not matter if you go into and out of a ward ten times a day, you need to wash your hands each time.
"I washed my hands each time. Unfortunately not all staff did the same."
She also complained that the hospital was too hot and she believed this must breed germs.
Link: press-citizen.com
Antibiotic-resistant bacteria once were found only in hospitals. MRSA is now being contracted in the community, even by people with healthy immune systems. It is not a "super-bug," Mabie says, but it can be difficult to treat.
"These organisms do whatever they have to in order to survive," Mabie says. "They become accustomed to antibiotics in the environment and so they mutate to survive."
How to protect yourself? Mabie offers these tips:
• Practice good hand washing all the time. This doesn't mean a quick rinse, but a thorough cleansing with soap and warm water -- including the backs of your hands, wrists, between the fingers, cuticles and fingernails. Antibacterial soaps are fine, but friction does most of the work, so ordinary soap works, too. Rinse well. Keep even small wounds clean and covered.
• Alcohol gel cleaners are a good substitute when you can't wash your hands. Alcohol kills bacteria on contact and most of these cleaners contain emollients to fight drying.
• Keep your pets as clean as possible, and wash your hands after playing with them. If they show any sign of illness, get them to the vet.
• Antibacterial cleaners for hard surfaces in your home can be helpful. But other antibacterial cleaners are probably excessive.
Mabie says most people are getting the message that antibiotics can be too much of a good thing. But one caution still applies: if your doctor prescribes antibiotics, finish the entire prescription, no matter how soon you start feeling better. If you take only a portion, you have given the bacteria a chance to get accustomed to the antibiotic and grow stronger.
Link: HighWire Press -- Medline Abstract.
OBJECTIVES: To determine the efficacy of a novel antimicrobial compound, AQ( ), against a genetically heterogeneous collection comprising 213 Staphylococcus aureus isolates from global sources. AQ( ) is an aqueous preparation containing 0.5% 8-hydroxyquinoline. METHODS: MICs were found for all the isolates tested using the BSAC microdilution method. Time-kill studies were performed according to NCCLS guidelines. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) was used to view the ultrastructural effects of AQ( ). RESULTS: AQ( ) was shown to strongly inhibit the growth of all isolates with a median MIC of 0.25% at a pH optimum of 9.2. Lowering the pH to 7.5 gave an approximately 4-fold reduction in efficacy and at pH 5.5 there was an approximately 8-fold reduction in efficacy. Methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) as well as vancomycin-intermediate S. aureus were shown to be as equally susceptible to AQ( ) as methicillin-susceptible S. aureus. Time-kill curves for AQ( ) were similar to those for gentamicin. TEM showed that AQ( ) actively disrupts the cell wall of S. aureus leading to cell lysis. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that AQ( ) has strong antimicrobial activity and may be useful in preparations to reduce nasal and skin carriage of MRSA.
Link: Science Articles
The active ingredient of AQ is the molecule 8-Hydroxyquiniline (8-H). 8-H works by coating the bacteria cells, starving the bacteria by inhibiting the uptake of metals that they need to survive. The researchers found that AQ killed all bacterial strains when used at a concentration of 10 per cent and was able to inhibit their growth at a 0.5 per cent concentration. Further detailed analysis of a subset of bacterial strains showed that 99.9 per cent were killed by a 0.5 percent concentration within six hours.
More at the link above
Link: icBirmingham
A man who devised a 'wonder cream' which was found to combat the hospital superbug MRSA has revealed he hopes to float his company on the stock market in the New Year. Former truck driver Brian Bennett is also negotiating a deal with pharmaceutical firms in America and Canada to distribute his range of hand lotions, which her devised in a bid to cure his wife Heather's dermatitis. The 66- year- old put together the potion in his shed at the couple's home in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, using a combination of normal barrier cream, aloe vera, vitamin E and jojoba oil mixed with anti-bacterial agents and water repellent solutions.
Link: The Daily Record
BRITISH scientists have developed a chemical that kills MRSA. They say it is a major breakthrough in the fight against the superbug. As well as destroying MRSA, the chemical, known as AQ , can wipe out other hospital-acquired infections. Dr Mark Enright, who led the scientists at Imperial College London, said: "The number of hospital-acquired infections is increasing. "AQ could prove to be of tremendous importance in fighting hospital infections. It it extremely potent against MRSA and effective against other types of bacteria." The scientists hope AQ will be used in gels for hand washing in hospitals and to eradicate MRSA from patients and medical staff.
Link: Efficacy of an alcohol/chlorhexidine hand hygiene program
RESULTS: In study wards, health care worker hand hygiene compliance improved from a pre-intervention mean of 21% (95% CI, 20.3%-22.9%) to 42% (95% CI, 40.2%-43.8%) 12 months post-intervention (P < 0.001). ACHRS use increased from 5.7 to 28.6 L/1000 bed-days. No change was observed in patient MRSA colonisation or environmental colonisation/contamination, and, except in the intensive care unit, colonisation of health care workers was unchanged. Thirty-six months post-intervention, there had been significant reductions in hospital-wide rates of total clinical MRSA isolates (40% reduction; P < 0.001), patient-episodes of MRSA bacteraemia (57% reduction; P = 0.01), and clinical isolates of ESBL-producing E. coli and Klebsiella spp (90% reduction; P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Introduction of ACHRS and a detailed culture-change program was effective in improving hand hygiene compliance and reducing nosocomial MRSA infections, despite high-level MRSA endemicity.
Link: Sunday Life.
GLAMOROUS actress Leslie Ash - who survived a superbug nightmare - has appealed for the Ulster public to protect themselves against potentially fatal infections. Leslie, best known as sexy Debs in Men Behaving Badly, knows only too well the devastating affect infections have. A year-and-a-half after contracting MSSA - an MRSA-related infection - she's just about back on her feet. Speaking exclusively to Sunday Life, the mum-of-two pleaded with people in Northern Ireland to be vigilant. "I'm so tired of hearing that things are getting better and that the Government is doing its best to try to tackle this problem," she said. "The reality is that there are people still picking up these superbugs everyday. "Some contract an infection, and, like myself, gradually get over it, but there are many others who die. "Much as I would like to say 'don't panic', I will have to admit that I really wish someone had panicked before MSSA struck me. "I would appeal to every single person in Northern Ireland not to wait until something terrible happens, before you do anything about it." The family of superbugs includes MRSA, MSSA, e-coli, salmonella and staptococcus.
Link: Could plain soap and probiotics beat hospital bugs?.
Doctors might be better off washing their hands with yoghurt instead of relying on antiseptic soap-scrubbing, according to a new discussion paper by a UCL (University College London) researcher. Scientists should investigate whether saturating the skin with 'good' bacteria would offer better protection against deadly germs, says the paper. Professor Mark Spigelman, of the UCL Centre for Infectious Diseases and International Health, is calling for a study to be set up in hospital units in which antibiotics would be banned, to explore alternative health protection measures against MRSA. In the paper, published in the November issue of Annals of the Royal College of Surgeons, Professor Spigelman says the time has come to re-evaluate the concept of using antibiotics and scrubbing hands and wounds with antiseptic soaps. His paper outlines a six-point proposal to set up surgical hospitals which would be antibiotic-free and would instead comply with the novel standard practices being investigated. Professor Mark Spigelman says: "Inappropriate use of antibiotics remains a major problem, despite our ever-growing understanding of how bacteria behave. For example, any student who has grown bacteria in a lab will know that they generally do not grow on top of one another. So when we wash our hands, we could actually be killing off harmless commensals to the extent that we leave space for other bacteria, such as MRSA strains, to settle. "Perhaps we should be thinking about using probiotics and even dipping our hands after thorough washing into a solution which contains harmless bacteria, which could then colonise our skin and prevent pathogenic bacteria from settling on it.
To fight the spread of healthcare-associated infections, which take a high toll in human lives and affect hundreds of millions of patients worldwide each year, the World Health Organization (WHO) and its partners are launching the Global Patient Safety Challenge with the theme, "Clean Care is Safer Care." As part of the launch, an advanced draft of the WHO Guidelines on Hand Hygiene in Healthcare is being made available, to encourage simple measures to prevent the spread of these infections. Ministers of health and senior officials, technical experts and WHO are announcing a series of key actions to fight healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) which threaten hard-won gains in health and life expectancy. These infections are a global problem affecting both developing and developed countries.
Link: The Australian
PATIENTS should refuse care from doctors who have not washed their hands, as part of an urgent drive to reduce the spread of deadly "superbugs" in Australian hospitals. An infection control summit in Sydney yesterday heard that only 40per cent of Victorian healthcare workers washed their hands between patients, despite the practice having been shown by Florence Nightingale in the Crimean War 150 years ago to prevent the spread of harmful germs. Lyn Gilbert, chair of the NSW expert group that has written tighter draft guidelines to cut infection rates, told the summit the superbug problem was viewed with "increasing urgency" because doctors now "accept many of these infections are preventable". "I would like to see a situation where patients feel sufficiently empowered to refuse to be touched by a doctor unless they have washed their hands before coming into a room," she said.
Link: Guardian Series
Last line is provocative
THE risk of hospital-acquired infections such as MRSA has caused hygiene measures at Newham University Hospital to be stepped up. Hygiene stations with prominent signposts reading "please clean your hands", along with an alcohol-based handrub have been installed at the entrances to wards and clinical areas at the hospital. Despite not having high-profile handwashing facilities, Newham University Hospital Trust's MRSA infection rate is lower than that at Whipps Cross, according to latest Government figures.
Link: In Safe Hands (from Enfield Independent).
England and Spurs goalie Paul Robinson is helping North Middlesex Hospital to kick-start a campaign to beat MRSA. The sports hero visited the hospital in Sterling Way, Edmonton, on Monday to launch its Clean Your Hands' campaign. The campaign, arranged in conjunction with the National Patient Safety Agency, encourages the UK's NHS trusts to beat germs by urging patients, visitors and staff to regularly use alcohol hand gel at bedsides. Posters will be on display across the hospital to help get the message across, along with photographs of staff who are lending their support to the campaign.
Link: theage.com.au.
The State Government has defended its decision to wait three years before approving the use of alcohol-based hand-washing kits which may have curbed the the spread of a superbug in Victorian hospitals. Three years ago, the Government began testing the alcohol-based washes in selected hospitals on the findings of overseas studies that found replacing soap-based kits curbed the spread of infection. Health Minister Bronwyn Pike announced on Saturday that alcohol-based washes would be installed at all hospitals due to the successful trial. But she has been criticised for not acting sooner. Opposition health spokesman David Davis said the alcohol hand rubs had been available in the US for a number of years, yet the State Government had only acted in recent weeks. "It's very likely that lives have been lost because of this Government's slowness to respond," he said. Mr Davis also urged the Government to resume funding for dedicated infection control nurses in hospitals, and to introduce devices to record hand-washing by hospital workers.
Link: News Story.
But NHS Tayside has introduced a number of initiatives to combat the problem. Today, in the Renal Unit at Ninewells, they launched their CHIPS campaign. It stands for Clean Hands Improve Patient Safety. This means that all patients will have to decontaminate their hands before they enter any area of the Renal Unit. And they'll also have to observe the ward visiting code - only two visitors per bed, no sitting on the beds and restrict visits to friends and relatives. These are among the five aims of the CHIPS campaign. Visitors will be asked to sign up to them and be prepared to answer the question - Have you cleaned your hands? Today's initiative is part of a drive to establish model wards for infection control at the hospital.
Link: killmrsa.com.
Top actress, Leslie Ash, who is still recovering from MSSA that she contracted whilst in a London hospital and which nearly left her paralysed, has been prompted to form a company to market a new anti-bacterial hand wash range named MATRON. The MATRON product range has been specially formulated by KWL, a leading UK-based health and beauty company, to kill MRSA and MSSA on the hands, the biggest documented source of bacteria transfer between people. Primarily developed with a leading NHS supplier to hospitals, MATRON, is also available direct to the general public for everyday use and peace of mind around the home, at work and at the gym – all potential MRSA and MSSA infection spread areas.
Link: KILLS MRSA and MSSA BRING BACK MATRON! "MATRON" BIO-HAN.
MATRON TM ; has been specially formulated in the UK to kill MRSA & MSSA on the hands; the biggest documented source, of bacteria transfer between people. Unlike some alcohol based dry gel products MATRON TM ; has been designed not to overtly dry-out the skin and has added moisturising agents and added ORGANIC ALOE VERA to greatly enhance the kindness to your hands. MATRON TM ; also comes in two fresh fragrances BALM MINT and CITRUS LEMON so they do not smell like strong Hospital Detergents MATRON TM ; is the only product on the market with this unique formulation and is priced to encourage regular usage and not be prohibitive when making the choice of safe care for you and your family.
The campaign promoting an alcohol hand rub instead of hand washing is co-ordinated by the National Patient Safety Agency. It has a dual approach to both encourage staff on hand hygiene and to encourage patients to challenge nurses on that cleanliness. Consultant microbiologist at the hospital Christopher Cefai said the problem of hospital acquired infection was "no worse" than in any other hospital in the UK. The NHS trust was one of the first in the country to introduced the alcohol hand rub as a simple way for staff to disinfect their hands. "We've been able to establish that nurses deal with an average 20 patients every hour and that means 40 minutes of each hour would be taken up with hand washing," said Mr Cefai. "This alcohol hand rub is a quick and easy way for nurses to clean their hands instead"
Link: the Tamworth Herald
The politicians who say 'I will campaign for cleaner hospitals to reduce the spread of MRSA' are puzzled when they learn that every patient on the fantastically clean and sterile ward now has MRSA. The friendly visitor hadn't washed his hands between seeing each patient. If politicians read up about MRSA they would discover that there is no clear link between dirty hospitals and the spread of MRSA. Cleaner hospitals will bring other health benefits of course, but there is overwhelming evidence that effective hand washing is the key to preventing cross-infection in hospital. Hand washing doesn't just apply to hospital staff but visitors too. By washing your hands when visiting loved ones in hospital, between patients (if you are the helpful type of visitor) and when leaving the ward, you'll do a lot more than a politician could ever do to halt the spread of MRSA.
Link: The Herald.
SUPERBUG rates in Scottish hospitals could be halved if staff followed a simple hand-washing regime, one of the world's leading infection experts said yesterday. Professor Didier Pittet said a switch from soap and water to more effective alcohol-based gels after each contact with patients could cut infections caused by bacteria such as MRSA. At the start of a two-day conference in Edinburgh on fighting healthcare-associated infection (HAI), Professor Pittet said a similar change had resulted in a 48% fall in MRSA in his own 2800-bed hospital in
Link: Scotsman.com News
A hospital has enlisted its volunteer meet-and-greeters to help in the fight against the MRSA superbug, it emerged today. Each greeter at Wansbeck General Hospital is armed with a special hand spray, and all visitors who enter the building are asked to wash their hands. Northumbria Healthcare NHS Trust, which runs the hospital, is hoping that its team of meet-and-greeters will lead from the front in the fight against the deadly bug. They will carry the special alcohol gel spray on their belts, and patients, staff and visitors will be reminded regularly of the importance of washing their hands.
Link: Courier News Story.
Holding their hands in front of a cabinet with an ultra-violet light source showed that some areas had been missed by the soap—and those same spots, in everyday life, could have been hiding places for bacteria. Mr Petrie said, “I came out of it quite successfully but one area that wasn’t cleaned properly was around my wedding ring. “It shows how vital it is for staff, patients and visitors to wash their hands thoroughly. We should all be able to do it as it’s pretty basic stuff and not rocket science. “Both members of staff and the public have been trying the hand-washing trial. It’s important we get the public to help us fight infection in the hospital.” Mr Marr, whose hands did not emerge spotless after their washing, said, “It just reminds you of the fact that it’s actually quite difficult to wash your hands, and I spent some time cleaning them.”
A short introduction from Dave Roberts
This 12 minute introduction will help you grasp the key facts and the key issues surrounding drug resistant staph aureus (mersa, mursa)
