Assessment of medical workers’ adherence to hygiene and hand antiseptics in pre-pandemic and pandemic periods

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Abstract

Objective. Evaluation of the medical workers adherence to hygiene and hand antisepsis in the pre-pandemic and pandemic periods and identification of the factors influencing the formation of a negative attitude towards this technology.

Materials and methods. An anonymous survey of medical workers was conducted in 2012 (73 people) and 2021 (100 people), with a simultaneous study of the level of bacterial (2012) and viral-bacterial (2021) hand contamination. Epidemiological (descriptive-evaluative and analytical), molecular biological (RT-PCR), bacteriological and statistical methods were used.

Results. Medical workers’ knowledge levels were comparable across study periods. However, during the pandemic, medical workers’ ideas about the stages of hygienic antiseptics have changed. The total level of adherence to hand antisepsis in the pre-pandemic period was 63.1%, in the pandemic period – 72.6%. It was noted that the frequency of contamination of hands and the outer surface of gloves remained at a high level (in 2012 – 22.0%, in 2021 – 28.3%) and was represented by a wide range of viral and bacterial microflora (Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus spp., Klebsiella spp., Pantoea agglomerans, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and SARS-CoV-2). In a number of cases, the presence of viral-bacterial associations on hands (gloves) was detected.

Conclusion. Despite the predominantly positive attitude towards hand antisepsis, an increase in the proportion of ambiguous assessments was noted. The overall level of knowledge about situations requiring hand antiseptic has increased. But the results of laboratory studies of washes from the hands and outer surfaces of gloves of medical personnel demonstrated a high level of viral and bacterial contamination, which contributes to the creation of conditions for the circulation of viral and bacterial pathogens in a medical organization.

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About the authors

Svetlana S. Smirnova

Federal Research Institute of Viral Infections «Virom» of Russian Federal Service for Supervision of Consumer Rights Protection and Human Well-Being; Ural State Medical University

Author for correspondence.
Email: smirnova_ss@niivirom.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0002-9749-4611

Сand. Med. Sci., Leading Researcher, Head, Ural-Siberian Scientific and Methodological Center for the Prevention of Healthcare-Acquired Infection, Federal Research Institute of Viral Infections «Virom», Russian Federal Service for Supervision of Consumer Rights Protection and Human Well-Being; Associate Professor, Department of Epidemiology, Social Hygiene and Organization, State Sanitary and Epidemiological Service, Ural State Medical University

Russian Federation, Yekaterinburg; Yekaterinburg

Elena V. Malkova

Federal Research Institute of Viral Infections «Virom» of Russian Federal Service for Supervision of Consumer Rights Protection and Human Well-Being

Email: malkova_ev@niivirom.ru.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0002-6647-9531

Head, Laboratory for Testing Disinfectants and Equipment, Epidemiologist, Ural-Siberian Scientific and Methodological Center for the Prevention of Healthcare-Acquired Infections

Russian Federation, Yekaterinburg

Ivan A. Egorov

Federal Research Institute of Viral Infections «Virom» of Russian Federal Service for Supervision of Consumer Rights Protection and Human Well-Being

Email: egorov_ia@niivirom.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0002-7153-2827

Junior Researcher, Ural-Siberian Scientific and Methodological Center for the Prevention of Infections Associated with the Provision of Medical Care

Russian Federation, Yekaterinburg

Nikolai N. Zhuikov

Federal Research Institute of Viral Infections «Virom» of Russian Federal Service for Supervision of Consumer Rights Protection and Human Well-Being

Email: zhuikov_nn@niivirom.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0002-7018-7582

Researcher, Ural-Siberian Scientific and Methodological Center for the of Infections Associated with the Provision of Medical Care

Russian Federation, Yekaterinburg

Vladimir A. Mishchenko

Federal Research Institute of Viral Infections «Virom» of Russian Federal Service for Supervision of Consumer Rights Protection and Human Well-Being

Email: mischenko_va@niivirom.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0003-4280-283X

Laboratory of Transmissible Viral Infections and Tick-Borne Encephalitis

Russian Federation, Yekaterinburg

Ivan V. Vialykh

Federal Research Institute of Viral Infections «Virom» of Russian Federal Service for Supervision of Consumer Rights Protection and Human Well-Being

Email: vjalyh_iv@niivirom.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0002-3123-8359

Сand. Med. Sci., Leading Researcher, Head, Laboratory of Transmissible Viral Infections and Tick-Borne Encephalitis

Russian Federation, Yekaterinburg

Veronika A. Smirnova

Regional Children’s Clinical Hospital

Email: smirnovava@mis66.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0002-9657-4257

Head, Epidemiological Department

Russian Federation, Yekaterinburg

Angelina N. Bolshakova

Regional Children’s Clinical Hospital

Email: anbolshakova73@gmail.com
ORCID iD: 0000-0001-7678-6984

Epidemiologist

Russian Federation, Yekaterinburg

Aleksandr V. Semenov

Rights Protection and Human Well-Being; Ural State Medical University; Institute of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Ural Federal University named after the First President of Russia B.N. Yeltsin

Email: semenov_av@niivirom.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0003-3223-8219

ВD., Director, Federal Research Institute of Viral Infections «Virom», Russian Federal Service for Supervision of Consumer Rights Protection and Human Well-Being; Professor, Department of Experimental Biology and Biotechnology, Institute of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Ural Federal University named after the First President of Russia B.N. Yeltsin 

Russian Federation, Yekaterinburg; Yekaterinburg; Yekaterinburg

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2. Figure. The proportion of positive responses when assessing situations requiring hand treatment with a skin antiseptic

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