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A Method to Test the Efficacy of Handwashing for the Removal of Emerging Infectious Pathogens
Published on: June 7, 2017
Are short training sessions on hand hygiene effective in preventing hospital-acquired MRSA? A time-series analysis
Andreas Conrad1, Klaus Kaier, Uwe Frank
1Department of Environmental Health Sciences, University Medical Center Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany. andreas.conrad@uniklinik-freiburg.de
Abstract:
We tested the impact of short hand hygiene training sessions and bed occupancy rates on the spread of hospital-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) using a multivariate time-series analysis. According to our model, bed occupancy rates within general ward and intensive care unit settings correlated positively with the incidence of hospital-acquired MRSA, whereas alcohol-based hand rub use and MRSA showed a negative correlation. Furthermore, our model shows that 2 hand hygiene campaigns based on short training sessions effected a long-run reduction in the incidence of hospital-acquired MRSA.
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