July 10, 2007

It Would Have Made a Better Story in Germ-any

Remind me not to get sick in Malaysia ...

A Malaysian hospital has finally persuaded staff, including doctors and nurses, to wash their hands after pointing out the dangers to their own health.

Pointing out the dangers to patient health did not work.

But don't get too excited about the improvement, your chances of being exposed to whatever contagious disease the last patient might have had is still about 1 in 5 -- every time a nurse or doctor touches you.

A study this year at Kuala Lumpur's Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Hospital showed that 40 percent of staff did not wash their hands before touching patients in its intensive-case unit, breaking hospital rules, the New Straits Times said on Tuesday.

Later, the hospital's infection-control chief spoke to staff about the importance of hygiene and installed voice-recorded health warnings at the entrance to the unit, eventually pushing the compliance rate to 80 percent, the daily said.

Posted by Charles Austin at July 10, 2007 07:02 PM
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