Hand-Washing Agents and Nosocomial Infections

To the Editor: The title of the report by Doebbeling et al. (July 9 issue) 1 is somewhat misleading. Although the chlorhexidine gluconate preparation is a hand-washing agent, the intended use of alcohol formulations is not hand-washing but hand disinfection. The error derives from the imprecise term...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe New England journal of medicine Vol. 327; no. 19; pp. 1390 - 1391
Main Authors Geiss, H K, Heeg, P
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States Massachusetts Medical Society 05.11.1992
Subjects
Alcohols - pharmacology
Anti-Infective Agents, Local - pharmacology
Chlorhexidine - pharmacology
Cross Infection - prevention & control
Hand Disinfection
Humans
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Summary:To the Editor: The title of the report by Doebbeling et al. (July 9 issue) 1 is somewhat misleading. Although the chlorhexidine gluconate preparation is a hand-washing agent, the intended use of alcohol formulations is not hand-washing but hand disinfection. The error derives from the imprecise terminology of hand-washing, hand disinfection, and hand antisepsis in the American literature. 2 When the authors state that the use of chlorhexidine reduces the rate of nosocomial infections more effectively than the use of alcohol, it is at least questionable whether their data have been correctly interpreted. If compliance with alcohol use in the cardiovascular intensive . . .
Bibliography:SourceType-Other Sources-1
content type line 63
ObjectType-Correspondence-1
ObjectType-Commentary-2
ObjectType-Feature-3
ObjectType-Article-4
ISSN:0028-4793
1533-4406
DOI:10.1056/NEJM199211053271914