A Hand Hygiene Intervention in Day-Care Centers Reduces Respiratory Infections

Hand hygiene educational efforts have been shown to reduce infections in healthcare settings, and some studies suggest that similar programs may be effective in schools and day-care centers.

In an 8-month study, researchers tested the effectiveness of an educational hand hygiene intervention for day-care staff and families of over 900 children aged 0 to 3 years attending 25 day-care centers in Spain. Centers were randomized to participate in a hand hygiene intervention with a soap and water (SW) or hand sanitizer (HS) protocol or to conduct usual hand-washing practices (control group).

All parents and staff attended an information session on hand hygiene practices, and staff, children, and parents of intervention groups were instructed to use…