Business Matters

It's Just That Simple

By Matthew Weinstock

The H1N1 outbreak provides a stark reminder that hand washing can save lives

I was thumbing through the Chicago Tribune one morning—yes, I still get a real copy delivered to my home—when I saw something that gave me pause: a full-color, full-page ad from a major soap manufacturer espousing the virtues of hand washing. Then, just a week or so later in the Trib’s lifestyle section, there was a review of five different hand sanitizers. Hardly the stuff of legendary Chicago scribes like Mike Royko, but telling nonetheless.

The Trib’s headline for its product review: “Fearing the Flu? Try these hand sanitizers.” Reporter Heidi Stevens wrote, “We plan to keep freaking out about swine flu for many months to come, so now seems an appropriate time to find a favorite hand sanitizer and pledge our undying loyalty.”

The pithy writing aside, Stevens is right; people are “freaking out” about the H1N1 virus. The outbreak last spring raised the nation’s—indeed, the world’s—awareness of how rapidly infections can spread. Between mid-April, when the strain was first identified, and May 19, there were 5,123 cases of H1N1 flu and eight deaths in the United States, according to the World Health Organization. There were 3,648 cases and 72 deaths in Mexico.

For weeks, we were barraged with 24-hour news coverage; schools closed for days at a time; people were cautioned about traveling to Mexico; and Vice President Joe Biden’s now infamous comments about avoiding confined quarters made the rounds on the late-night comedy circuit. But what makes the Tribune ad and article stand out is how proper hand hygiene became mainstream. Nearly every health expert interviewed on the morning and evening news talked about how the simple act of washing your hands can help stop the spread of the disease. Sure, Mom always told you to wash your hands, but that was Mom. When Oprah’s health guru Dr. Mehmet Oz says it, well, then it’s time to pay attention.

Health care providers have known the benefits of proper hand hygiene for aeons. Sadly, clinicians are not always compliant. Various studies suggest that health care workers adhere to hand-washing protocols between 25 percent and 50 percent of the time; 40 percent is the average. Leading institutions boast higher rates—some near 90 percent. But why do we hold them up as benchmarks? It still means that 10 percent of the time health care workers are potentially spreading dangerous germs to patients and others. And why is it that hospitals have to not only provide incentives—in some cases financial—for clinicians to practice good hand hygiene, but also deploy spies to monitor compliance?

The arguments are well-known: Clinicians are busy and sometimes forget to wash their hands in the heat of the moment. Constant use of soap and water or alcohol-based solutions dries out skin and causes irritation. Granted. But think about this: More than 2 million people a year acquire an infection during their hospital stay. Most experts agree that 90 percent of those can be avoided if hospitals improve hand hygiene and standardized care in the ICU.

So, if we are to learn anything from the H1N1 outbreak it’s simply this: Listen to your mom—or at least Dr. Oz—and wash your hands!

This article 1st appeared in the June 2009 issue of HHN Magazine.

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