Hospital infections: the hazard points

As a new health threat - the coronavirus - poses a potential risk to patients, Julie Ray from Tork manufacturer SCA looks at ways in which infections and viruses are spread in hospitals

Ahospital patient in Saudi Arabia died of the coronavirus in March this year bringing the total death tally to eight. So far 14 victims of the new virus have been identified since it first emerged in September 2012, which means that more than half of all the known cases have so far proved fatal.

The coronavirus appears to have originated from the Middle East with seven of the cases - including five of the fatalities - occurring in Saudi Arabia. But three patients have been identified in the UK, one of whom died at a Birmingham hospital in February.

Experts believe that the virus, whose symptoms include fever, coughing and breathing difficulties, may have originated from bats. But according to the Center for Disease Control in the US, the Birmingham death was part of a small cluster indicating the possibility of human-to-human transmission.

At the moment there is no reason to panic according to the Health Protection Agency, since if the illness were highly infectious, more cases would have emerged by now. But this is the latest in a long line of health threats that have included swine flu, norovirus, C.difficile and MRSA. And of course healthcare institutions are breeding grounds for those viruses that feed off people with compromised immune systems. This means that busy hospital staff - including nurses and cleaners - have their work cut out to minimise the cross-contamination risk.

High traffic equals high infection risk Today's rapid turnover of patients means that ward equipment and even hospital beds are a potential cross-contamination hazard. The bed frame is a particular risk since it is likely to be touched by any number of people during the course of a day. It will be handled by staff when moving the bed from one ward to another; by the patient when getting in and out of bed, by the cleaner and perhaps also by visitors.

Wheelchairs also pose a risk since they are shared by unwell patients who are potentially shedding body fluids and microorganisms.

And the computer keyboard is another potential hazard if medical staff fail to wash their hands after treating a patient and before typing up their medical notes.

According to recent UK studies, other risk areas in the hospital include bedside lockers, tables, curtains, telephones and switches on electrical equipment. In fact any surface liable to be touched by patients and medical staff is a potential source of infection. In other words, people's hands will routinely spread contamination around the hospital ward - unless they are frequently and thoroughly washed.

Hand hygiene can be improved in a hospital by providing an adequate supply of user-friendly hand washing and drying products.

Some studies have shown that medical staff are more encouraged to wash their hands frequently when given soft hand towels and mild soaps to use.

Soap systems should be easy to use and housed in long-lasting systems to prevent the risk of the soap running out. Tork Foam Soap, for example, contains 2,500 doses of soap per refill - more than double the number contained in a liquid soap dispenser of the same size.

The soap is housed in a Tork Elevation dispenser that has been purpose-designed to allow children and people with reduced hand strength to easily access the soap inside. This puts good hand hygiene practices within the scope of everyone in the hospital, even those patients who may be frail and elderly. Tork also recommends its Tork Extra Mild formulation to help reduce the risk of skin conditions caused by frequent hand washing such as occupational dermatitis.

Soft towels such as Tork Premium Interfold Towels will encourage staff to dry their hands thoroughly since unlike the harsh, abrasive hand towels associated with hospitals in the past, these will not cause chapping and soreness even with frequent use.

In cases when a hospital worker's hands need to be sanitised and a water supply is not readily available, an alcohol gel such as Tork Premium Alcohol Gel Hand Sanitiser is a good supplement to hand hygiene regimes.

Besides keeping the washroom and wash stations equipped with hygienic, pleasant-to-use products, there are several other ways in which hygiene can be improved in the hospital. Light switches and door handles should be kept to a minimum and washroom dispensers should be designed to avoid any human contact either with the dispenser or with the products inside.

Washroom dispensers should be easy to clean with no sharp corners where dirt can collect. Tork Elevation washroom dispensers, for example, have a curved design and are made from easy-clean ABS plastic.

Hopefully the threat to human health posed by the coronavirus will remain relatively slight. Coronaviruses are fragile and can only survive for around 24 hours outside the body; they are also easily destroyed by most detergents and cleaning agents.

But the HPA believes that coronaviruses are typically spread in a similar way to other respiratory infections such as influenza. And this means that standard infection control measures should be taken to prevent it from spreading - which involves isolation of the patient, barrier nursing and of course, scrupulous hand hygiene.