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Wiping Is Inferior to Rubbing: A Note of Caution for Hand Hygiene With Alcohol-Based Solutions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 January 2018

Jérôme Ory ,
Walter Zingg ,
Marlieke E. A. de Kraker ,
Hervé Soule  and
Didier Pittet
Jérôme Ory
Affiliation:
Service d’Hygiène Hospitalière du Centre Hospitalo-Universitaire, Clermont-Ferrand, France Infection Control Program and WHO Collaborating Center on Patient Safety, University of Geneva Hospitals and Faculty of Medicine, Geneva, Switzerland.
Walter Zingg*
Affiliation:
Infection Control Program and WHO Collaborating Center on Patient Safety, University of Geneva Hospitals and Faculty of Medicine, Geneva, Switzerland.
Marlieke E. A. de Kraker
Affiliation:
Infection Control Program and WHO Collaborating Center on Patient Safety, University of Geneva Hospitals and Faculty of Medicine, Geneva, Switzerland.
Hervé Soule
Affiliation:
Infection Control Program and WHO Collaborating Center on Patient Safety, University of Geneva Hospitals and Faculty of Medicine, Geneva, Switzerland.
Didier Pittet
Affiliation:
Infection Control Program and WHO Collaborating Center on Patient Safety, University of Geneva Hospitals and Faculty of Medicine, Geneva, Switzerland.
*
Address correspondence to Walter Zingg, MD, Infection Control Program, University of Geneva Hospitals and Faculty of Medicine, Rue Gabrielle Perret-Gentil 4, 1211 Geneva 14, Switzerland (walter.zingg@hcuge.ch).
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Abstract

We evaluated whether hand wiping is noninferior to hand rubbing in reducing the bacterial concentration on hands. In 20 healthy volunteers, hand wiping with or without an alcohol-based solution was inferior to hand rubbing with an alcohol-based solution. This finding warrants a note of caution for the application of wipes in health care.

Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2018;39:332–335

Type
Concise Communications
Information
Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology , Volume 39 , Issue 3 , March 2018 , pp. 332 - 335
Copyright
© 2018 by The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America. All rights reserved 

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Footnotes

PREVIOUS PRESENTATION: This report was presented at the 4th International Conference on Prevention and Infection Control (ICPIC), Geneva, Switzerland, on June 22, 2017 (abstract no. O27).

References

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