title: Alcohol handrubbing and chlorhexidine handwashing are equally effective in removing methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus from health care workers' hands: A randomized controlled trial.
abstract: We conducted a randomized controlled trial in a tertiary-care hospital in a real-time setting to evaluate the effectiveness of 3 hand hygiene protocols in reducing hand carriage of methicillin-resistant and methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus among health care workers. Our study shows that use of alcohol handrub, either covering all hand surfaces in no particular order or using the 7-step technique, and chlorhexidine handwashing were equally effective in removing hand carriage of these pathogens.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Tan Tock Seng Hospital Singapore, Singapore. Electronic address: hanleyho@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Hanley J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Ho
authors.affiliation: Infection Control Unit, Tan Tock Seng Hospital Singapore, Singapore.
authors.forename: Bee-Fong
authors.initials: BF
authors.lastname: Poh
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, Tan Tock Seng Hospital Singapore, Singapore.
authors.forename: Saugata
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Choudhury
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, Tan Tock Seng Hospital Singapore, Singapore.
authors.forename: Prabha
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Krishnan
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, Tan Tock Seng Hospital Singapore, Singapore.
authors.forename: Brenda
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ang
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Tan Tock Seng Hospital Singapore, Singapore; Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chow
mesh_terms: D000438:Alcohols / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D002710:Chlorhexidine / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D004202:Disinfectants / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D006225:Hand / Q000382:microbiology*; D006235:Hand Disinfection / Q000379:methods*; D006282:Health Personnel; D006801:Humans; D017053:Infection Control / Q000379:methods; D055624:Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D062606:Tertiary Care Centers; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000438:Alcohols; D004202:Disinfectants; D002710:Chlorhexidine
keywords: Cross-infection; Hand hygiene; Hand sanitizers; Infection control