News & Views

Washing with soap and water is second nature for many. But in many other places around the world, handwashing with soap is rare. In fact, a new study led by University at Buffalo researchers with USAID, UNICEF and others shows that handwashing behavior must be improved substantially in low- and middle-income countries. Using data from…

ust when you thought that Universal Children’s Day would be enough for the UN, think again: it also runs International Youth Day, which focuses on tweens and teens and their place in society. It’s not just to protect them, but to include them in the development of communities around the world, whether they’re rich or…

We all know that washing our hands can keep us from spreading germs and getting sick. But a new Rutgers-New Brunswick study found that cool water removes the same amount of harmful bacteria as hot. “People need to feel comfortable when they are washing their hands but as far as effectiveness, this study shows us…

Dr. Mark Sklansky, a self-described germaphobe, can’t stop thinking about how quickly those little microbes can spread. “If I am at a computer terminal or using a phone or opening a door, I know my hands are now contaminated, and I need to be careful and I need to wash my hands,” said Sklansky, professor…

Armed with new tools, patients and parents felt empowered to remind healthcare providers to perform hand hygiene, successfully improving compliance rates, but just over half of physicians felt that patients should be reminding providers, according to a new study published in the August issue of the American Journal of Infection Control, the official journal of…

The failure to change gloves is common among certified nursing assistants, and may be a significant cause of the spread of dangerous pathogens in nursing homes and long-term healthcare settings, according to a new study published in the September issue of the American Journal of Infection Control, the journal of the Association for Professionals in…

How do you get kids to understand the importance of washing their hands? Make it an experiment, suggests one study in which second graders observed that washing or using sanitizer gel reduced the bacteria on their hands by more than 90 percent. Subsequently, the students were far more likely to wash their hands regularly, and…

As the threat of AMR grows, hand hygiene compliance will become critical, but it is often difficult for healthcare environments to maintain. One of the best ways to improve compliance rates is to make the procedures quick and easy to follow – without undermining their efficacy. And that is where the challenge lies. Even the…

A new study has found that educating hospital cleaning staff can lead to fewer Clostridium difficile infections. The aim of the study, carried out by The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America, was to “sustainably improve cleaning of high-touch surfaces (HTSs) in acute-care hospitals using a multimodal approach to education, reduction of barriers to cleaning…

The notion that too much cleanliness can be bad for your health is a dangerous myth, according to a public health body. The Royal Society for Public Health claims the hypothesis that allergies are caused by too much cleanliness and that children need to be exposed to germs has entered the public imagination – but…