During the International Infection Prevention Week being observed from October 18 to October 24, most medical experts want to bring attention to hospital-acquired infection (HAI).
Most of us think that going to a hospital is a good solution for ailments but what if one gets infected at the hospital itself? “Germs and micro organisms from health-care providers or from the surrounding areas might cause infections and complications like diarrhea, dysentery, headache, fever and meningitis in some cases,'' says Dr. Pradeep Rangappa, Intensivist, Columbia Asia.
Experts say that healthcare providers should practise hand hygiene to disrupt the transmission of micro-organisms to patients before and after the contact with a patient; after contact with blood, body fluids, or contaminated surfaces (even if gloves are worn); before invasive procedures; and after removing gloves (wearing gloves is not enough to prevent the transmission of pathogens in healthcare settings).
Dr. Pradeep Rangappa, Intensivist, says,“A third of hospital acquired infections might be prevented with appropriate infection control measures.There are several factors predisposing a patient to hospital acquired infection (HAI) and one amongst them is poor hand hygiene which is responsible for 40 percent of infections transmitted in hospitals.”
The medical community is witnessing unprecedented advances in the understanding of pathophysiology of infectious diseases and the global spread of multi-drug resistant infections in health care set-ups. These factors, compounded by the paucity of new antimicrobials, have necessitated a re-look into the role of basic practices of infection prevention in modern day health care.
The spread of infection in health-care settings today affects millions worldwide. Nosocomial infections, also called hospital-acquired infections can be defined as those infections, occurring within 48 hours of hospital admission, after three days of discharge or after 30 days of an operation.
At any given time over 1.4 million people across the globe suffer from a nosocomial infection, say experts.
There is now undisputed evidence that strict adherence to hand-hygiene reduces the risk of cross-transmission of infections. Hand hygiene is now regarded as one of the most important elements of infection control activities. In the wake of the increasing severity of illnesses and complexity of medical treatments coupled with multi-drug resistant (MDR) pathogen infections, health care practitioners (HCPs) are going back to the basics of infection prevention via simple measures like hand hygiene. This is because enough scientific evidence supports the observation that if properly implemented, hand hygiene alone can significantly reduce the risk of cross-transmission of infection in healthcare facilities (HCFs).
Dr. Shiv Prasad, Intensivist, Narayana Health, remarks “Hand-washing should become an educational priority. Educational interventions for medical students should provide clear evidence on the most effective means of decontaminating hands and thereby reducing the rates of HAIs. Increasing the emphasis on infection control, giving the charge of infection control to senior organizational members, changing the paradigm of surveillance to continuous monitoring and effective data feedback are some of the important measures which need to be initiated in Indian hospitals.”
In India, although hand hygiene is imbibed as a custom and promoted at school and community levels to reduce the burden of diarrhoea, there is a paucity of information on activities to promote hand hygiene in HCFs. Sporadic reports document the role of hands in spreading infection and isolated efforts at improving hand hygiene across the country, feel experts.
“With increased awareness amongst health care professionals the chances of spreading infection at medical facilities has been reduced but the family members and relatives who visit the patient in hospitals especially in the ICU should also be careful,” says Dr. Pradeep Rangappa.
According to Dr. Shiv Prasad, “Prevention of nosocomial infections is the responsibility of all individuals and services providing health care. Everyone must work cooperatively to reduce the risk of infection for patients as well as staff.”
Infectious diseases can be spread from one person to another by contaminated hands, particularly gastrointestinal infections, influenza and hepatitis A. Washing hands properly can help prevent the spread of the organisms that cause these diseases.
Experts say,“usually people wash their hands in a hurry, they don’t even know all the 11 steps they have to do to ensure that their hands are clean.”
Hand hygiene concepts have evolved over the past two decades. An increase in hand hygiene adherence of only 20 per cent results in a 40 percent reduction in the rate of health care associated infections