Did Your Doctor Wash His or Her Hands? There’s Only a 50-50 Shot, New Study Finds

The next time you go to the hospital or the doctor’s office for a checkup, think about this: A new study finds that hospital professionals only washed their hands half the time between patients, increasing the risk of spreading potentially deadly infections that account for nearly 100,000 American deaths and billions of dollars in medical costs each year.

The spread of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), a potentially deadly form of bacterial staph infection, and other drug-resistant “Superbugs” which cannot be controlled with common antibiotics is a growing problem in the United States. Each year, about 90,000 serious infections and 18,000 deaths in the United States are blamed on MRSA alone.

The new study was conducted by the Joint Commission Center for Transforming Healthcare, which is responsible for accrediting more than 16,000 U.S. healthcare programs and organizations. The group examined eight hospitals for hand-washing policies and found that doctors, nurses, and other hospital personnel only washed their hands before treating patients half of the time.

Commission officials said it is time to get tough on the problem of improper hand washing in hospital settings and implement a broad, comprehensive approach to reducing the spread of infections.

MRSA: A Growing Problem

MRSA was once confined mostly to hospitals, nursing homes, and other healthcare settings, but more recently it has been found in other community settings. The bug is often found in school gym locker rooms, daycare centers, prisons, jails, military barracks, and other areas where many people live or congregate together in close proximity. Young children, the elderly or frail, and people with weakened immune systems are most likely to develop deadly or severe complications from MRSA and other drug-resistant infections.

Just last week, medical researchers in Israel reported that a study found improper cleaning of portable X-ray equipment was responsible for spreading MRSA and other serious infections. That study found the equipment was only properly sanitized between being used on multiple patients about half the time.

Insufficient cleaning of stethoscopes used by ambulance personnel has also been found to spread MRSA and other serious infections.

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