Being Hygienic Reduces Antibiotic Use: A Study

Washington DC: Improving hygiene habits, such as washing hands, will reduce infection risk by 50% and antibiotic use by 30%, new research suggests. Global public health experts are now calling for home and community hygiene to be part of a strategic plan to reduce hundreds of thousands of AMR deaths worldwide each year.

The position paper is published in the American Journal of Infection Control (AJIC). As seen during recent global efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19, hygiene habits, including handwashing, have become an integral part of everyone’s daily routine, and common infectious diseases. Is considered to be the first line of defense to reduce the prevalence of.

However, while national and international AMR strategies focus on the important role of hygiene in the healthcare environment, they fail to recognize the important role of household and community hygiene.

A position paper, created on behalf of the Global Hygiene Council (GHC) and published online at AJIC, targets in home and daily life settings to reduce the potential impact of antibiotic prescribing and antibiotic resistance. We will explore the role of hygiene.

This provides evidence that practicing hand hygiene at home and in the community can prevent infections and reduce the need for antibiotics.

One intervention study showed a 30% reduction in antibiotic prescribing for common respiratory infections in the hand antiseptic group compared to the control group.

The position paper also shows the growth rate of multidrug-resistant bacteria in homes and communities.

35% of common infectious diseases in health care and communities are already resistant to antibiotics, and in some low- and middle-income countries 90% is resistant to antibiotics, resulting in 2,000 people worldwide every day. Is dead ..

Gene Eves Maillard, lead author and professor of microbiology at Cardiff University School of Pharmacy and Pharmacy, said: “This is more urgent in the light of the current COVID-19 pandemics and evidence presented in this paper. The role of community hygiene in helping policy makers minimize the spread of infectious diseases.” Awareness will help reduce antibiotic consumption and help fight AMR. “

Concurrent with the publication of the paper, GHC will publish a manifest to call on national and international policy makers, health care providers and health professionals to further recognize the importance of hygiene in the home and everyday environment and to acknowledge the following: It was.

1. The IPC committee responsible for implementing the national AMR plan states that improved hand and surface hygiene in homes and communities minimizes the spread of infections and consequently minimizes antibiotic consumption. You have to recognize that it is the key to AMR. To achieve this, recommendations for improved sanitation in the wider community should be included in the Global AMR Action Plan by 2022 and in all national plans by 2025.

2. IPC’s advice, guidance, and education on on-hand HCP and surface hygiene, and the relationship to AMR should not be limited to the healthcare environment, but should also include immediate impact on the wider community. is.

3. Relevant medical associations should modify ongoing and existing AMR training and education to ensure that messages on home and community hygiene are cascaded to members. Evidence of a need to take home and community hygiene more seriously has helped the global community collaborate to reduce the need for antibiotic prescribing and reduce the circulation of AMR strains in the healthcare setting. Circulation of infectious diseases and AMR strains in society.