Coronavirus creates an opportunity to fight hospital-acquired infections
Highlighting the need to enforce hygiene standards in hospitals and implementing innovative technologies that can create a significant change.
By ORNA GOLDBERGVisibly pregnant 34-year-old Narkis receives her coronavirus vaccine in Tel Aviv, January 21, 2021. (photo credit: AVSHALOM SASSONI/ MAARIV)
The prevailing assumption is that hospitals are hygienic, almost sterile area zone - free of any contamination. However, in reality, the situation is much different and hospital-acquired infections are the most common complication. In the US alone, out of two million patients hospitalized each year, about 90,000 of them die as a result of infection complications contracted during hospitalization. In Israel, the data are not encouraging as well. According to the Ministry of Health, between 5,000-6,000 patients die every year as a result of infections in hospitals.Not only do infections increase the number of deaths in hospitals, but other significant consequences directly affect the quality of medical care. This includes extending the duration of hospitalization, increasing the bacterial resistance to antibiotics, increasing expenses on the health system and the increased suffering of patients and their families.Infections in hospitals should and can be prevented, it has a direct connection to keeping hands hygiene. However, due to lack of adherence to health regulations and keeping basic precautions, infections in hospitals remains one of the top medical challenges for the healthcare services. According to the World Health Organization, one in 10 patients suffer an infection and more than half of the infections originate in medical treatment rooms.The good news is that the way to prevent the present continuous situation is through a combination of enforcing strict regulations to maintain hand hygiene and implementing innovative technologies thus reducing over 30% of infections.Acknowledging the importance of keeping the above regulations, the WHO has initiated an annual Global Day, held every May 5, to promote awareness of hand hygiene. During this day, lectures, training sessions as well as a social media campaign is conducted to reduce the extent of infections, which is mainly aimed at doctors and medical teams, is conducted to reduce the extend of infections.The WHO declared that not only that hand hygiene is one of the most effective actions to reduce the spread of pathogens and prevent infections, including the COVID-19, but one of the main messages it to encourage decision makers in the hospitals to provide the appropriate conditions and technologies that will make it possible to improve the level of hand hygiene.In recent years, innovative technological solutions have been developed to prevent infections are caused as a result of wearing gloves incorrectly or for other reasons such as leaving the gloves boxes open so that various infections are transmitted through them. The Israeli-based company IGIN TECH by Aidor International Group has developed a smart device for wearing sterile gloves automatically and quickly without human touch.The gloves are worn by inserting both hands into the device, which is based on development of the amorphous structure of the material of the glove. The system fits the glove to the user’s hand quickly and easily, in a matter of seconds, and is intended for medical staff. In summary, the COVID-19 pandemic has sharpened the need to maintain hygiene in preventing infections and disease and thus provides a real opportunity to combat this phenomenon in hospitals. Increasing awareness along with the introduction of innovative technologies can reduce the extent of infections and thus improve the quality of medical care and save human life.
