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CMAJ: Infectious Risks In Family Doctor’s Offices

 

 

# 5165

 

 

I didn’t used to be a germaphobe.

 

In fact, as a paramedic in the 1970s, I worked without gloves 99% of the time (everyone did) - had my hands in some truly awful messes - and hardly gave it a second thought.  

 

A vigorous application of Betadine scrub (fingertips up to the elbows) was the universal cure-all after every call.

 

Of course, this was before HIV, MRSA, and Hepatitis became threats.

 

Looking back at those days, the lackadaisical attitude over infection control in hospitals, ambulances, and yes . . .  even the morgue  . . .  seems reckless and difficult to fathom now.

 

Fast forward almost (ahem) 40 years, and I now carry a little bottle of alcohol sanitizer in my car, and often in my pocket, where ever I go.  I cringe at the thought of sitting in a crowded doctor’s waiting room, and I wash my hands at least 10 times a day.

 

I even keep some surgical masks and exam gloves in a baggie in my car (and in both of my first aid kits), just in case I’m called upon to help out in a car wreck or other emergency.

 

I admit, I’m somewhat more germ conscious after having read Maryn McKenna’s superb Superbug: The Fatal Menace of MRSA, but I can’t place all the blame on her. Penning over 5,000 blogs on infectious diseases over the past five years has no doubt had an effect, as well.

 

And for awhile, during the pandemic, it seemed that many in the general public shared my, err . .  fastidiousness (a much nicer word than `mania’) about hand hygiene and cough and sneeze etiquette.

 

Doctor’s offices routinely handed out surgical masks in the waiting room for those with respiratory symptoms.  Big bottles of hand sanitizer sat on every desk, and signs were everywhere to stay home if you were sick.

 

But the pandemic is now gone, and so are most of those little bottles of hand sanitizer. 

 

Many of the hygienic practices taken by the public – and in doctor’s offices – last year, have slowly eroded, or have slipped out of use entirely.

 

And according to an article that appears in the CMAJ this week, that is a big mistake. 

 

Follow the link to read:

 

December 20, 2010

 

Infectious risks in family doctor’s offices

 

Although the value of hand washing in the prevention of influenza is debatable (see The Flaw In The Ointment  and Sanitized For Your Protection ) there is no doubt that good hand hygiene and respiratory etiquette can significantly reduce the spread of many illnesses.

 

Recently a study appeared in  BMC Infectious Diseases, which suggests hand hygiene can be effective even against the `common cold’.

 

Effectiveness of alcohol-based hand disinfectants in a public administration: Impact on health and work performance related to acute respiratory symptoms and diarrhoea

Nils-Olaf Hubner , Claudia Hubner , Michael Wodny , Gunter Kampf  and Axel Kramer

 

 

The bottom line to the CMAJ article is that infection control policies and procedures not only belong in acute care settings - like hospitals and ambulances – they also need to be reinforced, and maintained, in doctor’s offices as well.

 

Otherwise, we risk letting a lot of preventable illnesses slip through our fingers.

Related Post:

Infection Control

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