Abstract
Hand hygiene (HH) is the most important measure to prevent nosocomial infections. HH compliance in companion animal clinics has been reported to be poor. The present study compared an online application with the WHO evaluation form to assess the WHO five moments of HH in a Swiss companion animal clinic. In 202 hand swabs from 87 staff members, total viable count (TVC) before and after patient contact was evaluated and the swabs were tested for selected antimicrobial resistant microorganisms of public health importance. HH compliance (95% confidence interval) was 36.6% (33.8–39.5%) and was similar when assessed with the two evaluation tools. HH differed between hospital areas (p = 0.0035) and HH indications (p < 0.0001). Gloves were worn in 22.0% (18.0–26.6%) of HH observations and were indicated in 37.2% (27.3–48.3%) of these observations. Mean TVC before patient contact was lower (0.52 log CFU/cm2) than after patient contact (1.02 log CFU/cm2) but was similar before patient contact on gloved and ungloved hands. Three hand swabs (1.5% (0.4–4.3%)) were positive for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Gloving should not be regarded as a substitute for HH. Overall, HH in companion animal medicine should urgently be fostered.
Highlights
Hand hygiene (HH) in companion animal clinics is of particular importance as intensive medical care of dogs and cats can be associated with nosocomial infections
In 75 of 810 cases evaluated with the CleanHands application, HH could not be matched to any of the WHO
The present study found a largely insufficient HH compliance in a large veterinary referral clinic for companion animals in Switzerland
Summary
Hand hygiene (HH) in companion animal clinics is of particular importance as intensive medical care of dogs and cats can be associated with nosocomial infections. Infection prevention and control standards in the companion animal healthcare sector are often insufficient and can contribute to the distribution of antimicrobial resistant microorganisms (ARM) between the environment and healthcare personnel [17]. HH is the most important prevention measure against nosocomial infections in human medicine [22,23,24]. Healthcare workers’ hands are one of the main risk factors for transmission of microorganisms between patients and the environment [26]. In a recent systematic review, average baseline HH compliance among healthcare workers in human adult intensive care units was reported to be 51.5%, increasing to 80.1% after intervention [27]
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