The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s guidelines for hand hygiene state that alcohol-based hand wipes are not an effective substitute for alcohol-based hand rub or hand washing with an antimicrobial soap and water.

So, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh, in Pennsylvania upped the alcohol content of the wipes. (more…)

Medscape reports from the 50th Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy that researchers at the University of Minneapolis, in Minnesota, studied high school wrestlers who used skin wipes after each match during a marathon day of wrestling.

The objective was to compare soap and water to alcohol swabs. (more…)

During the Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC), researchers from the University of Virginia reported that regular use of alcohol-based disinfecting hand gels has little effect on the Swine flu infection rate. (more…)

Done properly, it’s “one of the best ways to avoid getting sick,” according to MayoClinic.com.

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Medscape has an interview with Dr. Georges Benjamin (photo), who is executive director of the American Public Health Association.

Highlights follow. (more…)