Hand Hygiene

The WHO Guidelines on Hand Hygiene in Health Care provide health-care workers (HCWs), hospital administrators and health authorities with a thorough review of evidence on hand hygiene in health care and specific recommendations to improve practices and reduce transmission of pathogenic microorganisms to patients and HCWs. The present Guidelines are intended to be implemented in any situation in which health care is delivered either to a patient or to a specific group in a population. Therefore, this concept applies to all settings where health care is permanently or occasionally performed, such as home care by birth attendants. Definitions of health-care settings are proposed in Appendix 1. These Guidelines and the associated WHO Multimodal Hand Hygiene Improvement Strategy and an Implementation Toolkit (http://www.who.int/gpsc/en/) are designed to offer health-care facilities in Member States a conceptual framework and practical tools for the application of recommendations in practice at the bedside. While ensuring consistency with the Guidelines recommendations, individual adaptation according to local regulations, settings, needs, and resources is desirable. This extensive review includes in one document sufficient technical information to support training materials and help plan implementation strategies. The document comprises six parts.

The first comprehensive, authoritative review of one of the most fundamental and important issues in infection control and patient safety, hand hygiene. Developed and presented by the world's leading scholar-clinicians, Hand Hygiene is an essential resource for all medical professionals. Developed and presented by the world leaders in this fundamental topic Fully integrates World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines and policies Offers a global perspective in tackling hand hygiene issues in developed and developing countries Coverage of basic and highly complex clinical applications of hand hygiene practices Includes novel and unusual aspects and issues in hand hygiene such as religious and cultural aspects and patient participation Offers guidance at the individual, institutional, and organizational levels for national and worldwide hygiene promotion campaigns

Handwashing, as part of basic hygiene, is a no-brainer. Whenever there's an outbreak of a contagious disease, we are advised that the first line of defense is proper handwashing. Nonetheless, many people, including healthcare workers, ignore this advice and routinely fail to wash their hands. Those who neglect to follow proper handwashing protocols put us at risk for serious disease - and even death. In this well-researched book, Wahrman discusses the microbes that live among us, both benign and malevolent. She looks at how ancient cultures dealt with disease and hygiene and how scientific developments led to the germ theory, which laid the foundation for modern hygiene. She investigates hand hygiene in clinical settings, where lapses by medical professionals can lead to serious, even deadly, complications. She explains how microbes found on environmental surfaces can transmit disease and offers strategies to decrease transmission from person to person. The book's final chapter explores initiatives for grappling with ever more complex microbial issues, such as drug resistance and the dangers of residing in an interconnected world, and presents practical advice for hand hygiene and reducing infection. With chapters that conclude with handy reference lists, The Hand Book serves as a road map to safer hands and better hygiene and health. It is essential reading for the general public, healthcare professionals, educators, parents, community leaders, and politicians.

The first comprehensive, authoritative review of one of the most fundamental and important issues in infection control and patient safety, hand hygiene. Developed and presented by the world's leading scholar-clinicians, Hand Hygiene is an essential resource for all medical professionals. Developed and presented by the world leaders in this fundamental topic Fully integrates World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines and policies Offers a global perspective in tackling hand hygiene issues in developed and developing countries Coverage of basic and highly complex clinical applications of hand hygiene practices Includes novel and unusual aspects and issues in hand hygiene such as religious and cultural aspects and patient participation Offers guidance at the individual, institutional, and organizational levels for national and worldwide hygiene promotion campaigns

You may not know it, but an innovation has made our world a better place. The use of alcohol-based handrubs protects us from infectious diseases and saves millions of lives each year through safer health care. Here is the story of this revolutionary formulation, made available without patent and offered as a gift to humanity by Professor Didier Pittet and his team at Hôpitaux Universitaires de Genève (HUG). From bush doctors to giant pharmaceutical corporations, everyone can now produce effective handrubs, cheaply and easily. Didier Pittet’s medical odyssey has taken him to the four corners of the Earth. It also reveals a new path open to human society, one that pro- mises a radical shift from a predatory economic system to an economy of peace. Thierry Crouzet — blogger, essay writer, and novelist — is fascinated by contemporary issues located at the nexus of technology, politics, and lite- rature. A former journalist, his published works in French include Le Peuple des connecteurs [The Connected People], a reflection on our networked society; J’ai débranché [How I Unplugged], a tale of digital burnout; and La Quatrième Théorie [The Fourth Theory], a political techno-thriller.

This delightful board book follows the journey of a germ using unique heat-sensitive pages and combining interaction, play and learning, showing pre-schoolers the importance of clean hands. The journey, from the toilet seat to the tummy (and out again!), explores the concepts of germs being invisible to the naked eye, multiplying and causing illness. By placing their warm hands on the thermochromic patches, the multiplying germs are revealed. The simple, bright and bold illustrations by Charlie Evans allow children to develop an understanding of science and health from a young age, while having fun in the process

The Little Princess loves getting her hands dirty. The trouble is . . . she hates washing them. Until she learns all about the nasties and the dirties and all the other horrible things that lurk and make you ill . . .