Hygienic hand disinfection is the most important measure to prevent nosocomial infections.
Hygienic hand disinfection prevents the transmission of pathogens from one patient to another. You avoid the entry of pathogens into wounds or onto medical equipment and last but not least you also protect yourself. The indications for hygienic hand disinfection are defined by the 5 moments for hand hygiene outlined by the WHO1. An excellent method for performing this is the self-administered rub-in method. But what is most important is that hygienic hand disinfection becomes second nature.
Thorough surgical hand disinfection before surgical interventions prevents the entry of pathogens into a surgical wound and is thus essential in preventing postoperative wound infections.
You can also protect yourself and others from infection with transmissible diseases in your private environment by using hand disinfection that is appropriate to the situation. Is someone in your household ill or do you frequently use public transport? If so, hand disinfection can also be useful outside of medical facilities.
Find out what is important about hand disinfection here: why, when and how to disinfect your hands properly and which measures make it easier to carry out and improve compliance.
1 WHO: Five moments for hand hygiene (https://www.who.int/gpsc/tools/Five_moments/en/) Last accessed on 7.4.2021
