Comparing handwashing techniques - microbiology Essay

Comparing progress to washing techniques - microbiology - Essay Examplecoli K 12 colony count before and after the hand washing, E.coli K12 strain being the indicator organism used in the study. In chemical formula hand wash, the reduction factor was found to vary from 2.4 - 4.18 where as in case of NHS hand wash the value ranges from 0.86 2.91. The average reduction factor was found to be higher in case of the NHS hand wash. NHS communications protocol of hand rubbing for 30 seconds was found very effective in bringing down the microbial load of the hands.The major objective of the study was to examine the normal hand washing techniques with that of NHS standard techniques (in accordance with BS EN 1500). Assessment was based on the E.coli count before and after the hand washing. E.coli normal inhabitants of the normal intestine and they are excreted out in large numbers to the outside through human faeces. Presence of E.coli is thus an indication of feacal contamination of the have-to doe with food item or object by means of insects or human hands. Adequate hand hygiene is the most effective method of preventing transmission in hospitals, homes and workplaces.Health care related problems has been in the air for the past two decades with an alarming rate of nosocomial infections. The public concern on hand hygiene has stimulated a review of the scientific data regarding the same and the development of new guidelines designed to improve hand-hygiene practices in health-care facilities. Proper hand washing using detergents like scoop shovel was considered as a criteria of personal hygiene since olden days. In 1843, Oliver Wendwell Holmes brought to light the reason for perpural fever found in parturient women as improper hand hygiene of health professionals. The Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee (HICPAC) in the year 1995 recommended that either antimicrobial soap or a waterless antiseptic agent should be used for cleaning hands upo n leaving the rooms of patients with multidrug-resistant pathogens like vancomycin-resistant