CDC: Keep It Clean in the Clinic!

Overlook the simple things, and all the technology and medication in the world won’t keep patients—or healthcare providers—healthy. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention just launched a campaign called Clean Hands Count, aimed at preventing healthcare-associated infections through basic hygiene practices in all healthcare settings, including urgent care. One common misconception the program aims to correct: that antibiotic hand sanitizers are the safest. Rather, use of antibiotic-based cleansers increases the risk of antibiotic resistance; instead, the CDC recommends alcohol-based solutions. Such cleansers have also been shown to cause less irritation than frequent handwashing with soap and water, according to the CDC.  While data relating to office-based medical visits are lacking, roughly 722,000 healthcare-associated infections occur in U.S. hospitals annually.