[Preventing nosocomial infections: a topic of concern in developing countries as well]

This study was conducted in an hospital in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The project goals were to assess the effectiveness of a campaign to encourage hand washing, improve caregivers' knowledge of infection prevention, quantify their knowledge of the subject and determine why caregivers were not washing their hands. The data were collected by looking at 22 nurses using an observation grid, once before and once after the campaign. There was a highly significant increase of 36% (p = 0.003) in the practice of hand washing, rising from 9% in the first observation to 45% in the second. It was also observed that the practice significantly increased with the nurse/patient ratio (p = 0.04). The most experienced nurses were also the ones who practised hand washing the least, and for whom the difference between the two observation periods was smallest. The message for nurses here and elsewhere in the world is clear: better hand-washing practices are undeniably an effective and efficient measure, and should be applied systematically.