Hospitals Abandoning Soap and Water

[Guest guest]

Hi,

as some of you know I am highly against the use of all those anti-

bacterial soaps and wipes and sprays etc. So this article comes right

down my alley :-)) And our clinic has replaced soap long ago.

Peace

Torsten

Hospitals Abandoning Soap and Water

By DANIEL Q. HANEY, AP Medical Editor

Sun Sep 29, 2:19 AM ET

SAN DIEGO - Soap and water may be all washed up. Many hospitals

are switching to quick-drying alcohol gels to keep hands clean

as evidence builds they stop dangerous germs faster and better.

The spread of microbes in hospitals is a huge health problem,

making sick people sicker and resulting in an estimated 20,000

deaths in the United States each year. One of the chief ways

germs spread is on the hands of nurses, doctors, technicians and

others who move from patient to patient.

While hospital workers are routinely urged to wash up between

patients, a thorough job can take a full minute, results in dry

skin and is often skipped to save time, especially in hectic

intensive care wards where the risk can be greatest.

The latest research, presented Saturday at a meeting of the

American Society for Microbiology, suggests the alcohol-based

rinses are surprisingly effective at cutting hospital germs,

since they are much quicker, require no water or sink and kill

more microbes.

" You go up to a dispenser, go " click! " and it's there. The time

saving is amazing. It's something people actually do use rather

than walking by the sink, " said Dr. Barbara Murray of the

University of Texas at Houston.

Over the past two years, some hospitals have installed alcohol

gel dispensers beside every bed, and many more are planning to

switch. New guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention, to be released later this fall, are expected to

recommend hospitals use the alcohol gels exclusively except when

workers hands are visibly soiled.

" This will represent a revolution in hand hygiene, " said nurse

Elaine Larson, associate dean for research at Columbia

University. " No longer is the best way to clean your hands

washing them. Can you imagine telling surgeons you no longer

need to scrub? This is news, and it's very exciting. "

The alcohol rinses, available as foam, gel or lotion, are simple

to use: Pour a dime-size blob on one palm, then rub the hands

together until it dries, which takes about 15 seconds. The

solutions also contain moisturizers, so they do not dry the

skin. Identical products are available in grocery stores.

" One of the real barriers to hand hygiene is how busy health

care workers are, " said Dr. Hooper of Massachusetts

General Hospital. " The ability to very rapidly kill bacteria on

your hands is a great advantage. "

Researchers at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in

Washington D.C. measured the effects of switching to the alcohol

rinses two years ago. Dispensers were put in all patient rooms

and outpatient clinics.

New cases of drug-resistant staph infections decreased 21

percent, while resistant enterococcus dropped 43 percent. Both

of these are serious, hospital-acquired infections.

Among the first to study the gel's advantages was Dr. Didier

Pittet of the University of Geneva Hospitals in Switzerland.

Four years of use there cut hospital-spread infections in half.

Some hospitals have been reluctant to adopt the new cleaners

because they cost more than soap. However, a new analysis by

Pittet suggests they actually save money because they reduce

infections, which are expensive to treat.

At his hospital, he found the gels cost an extra $1.62 for each

patient admitted, or $82,000 per year. But between 1999 and

2001, they save more than $12 million in treatment costs.

Many brands are available. The solutions contain between 60

percent and 90 percent alcohol and are thought to be equally

effective in killing viruses and bacteria. They are also being

tested in school bathrooms and child care centers, among other places.

Larson said she does not recommend replacing ordinary soap in

the home. However, the alcohol rubs could be helpful if people

are traveling and cannot wash, have sick children or care for

people with weakened immune systems.

___

EDITOR'S NOTE: Medical Editor Q. Haney is a special

correspondent for The Associated Press.