Hand Hygiene—Other Remedies Are Also Effective

Under the subheading “Hygienic measures in clinical practice”, the authors rightly point out the crucial importance of proper hand hygiene. It is not correct, however, that exclusively “virucidal” disinfectants can be used. Rapid, 30-second effectiveness against adenoviruses is sufficient, as is possible by using one of several commercially available hand disinfectants (color free and scent free). Complete elimination of all viruses in keeping with the regulations of the Robert Koch-Institute is not required and does not make sense since the preparations used for that purpose are often far less well tolerated.

DOI: 10.3238/arztebl.2012.0149a

Prof. Dr. med. Markus Dettenkofer

Department of Environmental Health Sciences, University Medical Center Freiburg, Germany, markus.dettenkofer@uniklinik-freiburg.de

Conflict of interest statement

Professor Dettenkofer has received funding for a research project he initiated from B Braun, Sempach, Ecolab, and Schulze and Mayr.