Would you believe that thousands of patients in hospitals each year are at risk of potentially fatal infections because health care workers do not wash their hands on enough occasions, according to researchers from UNSW.
“From a young age, we are taught that we wash our hands to protect ourselves from germs, but we really need to get the message into the community that we wash our hands to protect others too,� she said. “It’s the same principle with health care workers.
“They often elect not to wash their hands for minor touches, because subconsciously they think it is not placing themselves at risk,� said Professor McLaws. “But those minor touches from making a bed to taking a patient’s temperature, for instance, may cause a problem for the next patient who is immuno-compromised, is on antibiotics, has just been to surgery, has a tube in place or a breach in their skin.
MRSA and other staph can cause infection by getting into the body through broken skin or into the blood stream.
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