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Hand Hygiene in Healthcare

To fight the spread of healthcare-associated infections, which take a high toll in human lives and affect hundreds of millions of patients worldwide each year, the World Health Organization (WHO) and its partners launched the Global Patient Safety Challenge with the theme, "Clean Care is Safer Care." As part of the launch, an advanced draft of the "WHO Guidelines on Hand Hygiene in Health Care" will be made available to encourage simple measures to prevent the spread of these infections.

 

Ministers of health and senior officials, technical experts, and WHO announced a series of key actions to fight healthcare-associated infections (nosocomial infections), which threaten hard-won gains in health and life expectancy. These infections are a global problem affecting both developing and developed countries.

 

At any given time, more than 1.4 million people worldwide become seriously ill from such infections. According to the WHO, between 5% and 10% of patients admitted to hospitals in developed countries acquire these infections. In some developing country settings, the proportion of patients affected can exceed one-quarter.

 

For over a year, more than 100 technical experts from around the world have participated in the development of "WHO Guidelines on Hand Hygiene in Health Care" (Advanced Draft). The Guidelines will be finalized only after they have been tested in different healthcare settings in six WHO regions. Hand hygiene, a very simple action, remains the primary measure to reduce healthcare-associated infection and the spread of antimicrobial resistance, enhancing the safety of care across all settings, from complex, modern hospitals to simple health posts.

 

Asthma Still Undertreated in Pregnant Women

Despite current guidelines that strongly advise treating asthma aggressively in pregnant women, the illness is not being treated adequately in this population. According to new data reported in the Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology that support the findings of previous studies, appropriate use of inhaled corticosteroids during pregnancy reduces illness due to asthma.

 

Researchers used a medical claims database to analyze asthma medication use in the 6 months before and 6 months after 633 women became pregnant. The data indicated that slightly more than one-half of the women (334) had been prescribed an asthma-related drug before becoming pregnant.

 

Before pregnancy, 142 women were using asthma controller therapy-most commonly an inhaled corticosteroid-and 283 were using a short-acting bronchodilator with or without controller therapy. Those numbers fell to 94 and 137 after the women became pregnant.

 

The researchers concluded that asthma remains undertreated in women of childbearing age and even more so in those who are pregnant.

 

They also emphasized that treatment of asthma with inhaled corticosteroids during pregnancy decreases asthma-related exacerbations and has not been associated with adverse outcomes.

 

Back Exercises May Increase Pain

Lower back pain is one of the most common reasons for patient visits, and the top reason people seek alternative therapies such as acupuncture. Exercises are often prescribed to mobilize and strengthen the lower back, but growing evidence suggests that targeting the back does not help, and may even aggravate the pain.

  
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Researchers reporting in the American Journal of Public Health found that of the nearly 700 patients with low back pain they followed for 18 months, those who walked and participated in other forms of "recreational" exercise had a lower risk of pain over time. In contrast, those who performed exercises specifically for their backs appeared to make matters worse. The researchers concluded that general physical activity, such as walking or swimming is more beneficial. They also stressed that back exercises generally increased patients' risk of suffering pain and disability over time.