Effect of hand hygiene on infectious disease risk in the community setting: a meta-analysis.

• Autores: Allison E. Aiello, Rebecca M Coulborn, Vanessa Perez, Elaine L. Larson
• Localización: American journal of public health, ISSN 0090-0036, Vol. 98, Nº. 8, 2008, págs. 1372-1381
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • To quantify the effect of hand-hygiene interventions on rates of gastrointestinal and respiratory illnesses and to identify interventions that provide the greatest efficacy, we searched 4 electronic databases for hand-hygiene trials published from January 1960 through May 2007 and conducted meta-analyses to generate pooled rate ratios across interventions (N=30 studies). Improvements in hand hygiene resulted in reductions in gastrointestinal illness of 31% (95% confidence intervals [CI]=19%, 42%) and reductions in respiratory illness of 21% (95% CI=5%, 34%). The most beneficial intervention was hand-hygiene education with use of nonantibacterial soap. Use of antibacterial soap showed little added benefit compared with use of nonantibacterial soap. Hand hygiene is clearly effective against gastrointestinal and, to a lesser extent, respiratory infections. Studies examining hygiene practices during respiratory illness and interventions targeting aerosol transmission are needed.;