Around 1 in 10 people admitted to hospital will develop a hospital acquired infection. As antibiotic resistance increases, this number is likely to increase, as well as the rate of mortality from these infections. Everything possible must be done to reduce the transmission of these infection. At the front line of infection control is proper hand washing.

How infection spreads

The majority of hospital acquired infections are caused by bacteria. These include Staphylococcus, E. coli and Enterococci. The remaining 10% are caused by viruses and fungi. These infections are spread by hand-to-hand and hand-to-surface-to-hand contact, which means that the best way to break the cycle is by washing or sanitising hands as often as possible.

Training staff in effective hand hygiene

There are three GlitterBug products that are used to train hospital staff in good hand hygiene: GlitterBug Potion is for training hand washing. GlitterBug Gel is for training sanitiser use. GlitterBug Powder is teaching about cross-contamination.