The WHO refers to hygiene as the “conditions and practices that help to maintain health and prevent the spread of diseases.” Accordingly, medical hygiene involves a number of different measures for averting the transmission of antimicrobial resistance and reducing healthcare-associated infections. The recent COVID-19 pandemic and the thereof resulting efforts by health professionals and governments to increase social awareness for the importance of hand hygiene reflects very well the socioeconomic and medical relevance of this topic. In this Special Issue, we gather leading scientists in the field to summarize the current knowledge and preferred protocols in different fields of medical hygiene. Importantly, each article includes a ready-to-use checklist (as a Supplemental PDF file) that may be implemented for practical purposes.
Laundry and textile hygiene in healthcare and beyond
Dirk P. Bockmühl, Jan Schages and Laura Rehberg
2019 | 10.15698/mic2019.07.682 | Reviews
This article shows that while institutional laundering is regulated to ensure hygiene, the trend towards energy-efficient washing at lower temperatures raises concerns about the antimicrobial efficacy of domestic laundering, with a focus on addressing microbial contamination in both clinical and home settings.
Adaptive bacterial response to low level chlorhexidine exposure and its implications for hand hygiene
Günter Kampf
2019 | 10.15698/mic2019.07.683 | Reviews
This article shows that bacteria can adapt to low levels of Chlorhexidine digluconate (CHG), resulting in increased tolerance and cross-resistance to other antimicrobials, suggesting caution in the widespread use of CHG to minimize avoidable selection pressure for resistance.