No more white coats? New infection control recommendations issued

In an effort to reduce health-care associated infections, traditional white coats and other such clothing worn in health-related professions could become a thing of the past. New infection control recommendations have been issued by the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA), one of the world's top infection control organizations. Read the entire article from the online journal Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiologyhere.

Mark Rupp, MD, chief of the division of infectious diseases at the University of Nebraska Medical Center and one of the authors of the recommendations issued by SHEA, said in ScienceDaily: White coats, neckties, and wrist watches can become contaminated and may potentially serve as vehicles to carry germs from one patient to another. However, it is unknown whether white coats and neck ties play any real role in transmission of infection. ... Until better data are available, hospitals and doctor's offices should first concentrate on well-known ways to prevent transmission of infection — like hand hygiene, environmental cleaning, and careful attention to insertion and care of invasive devices like vascular catheters.

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