Why are disposable medical gloves so important in the medical field?

According to the Journal of Hospital Infection, 40-60% of the pathogens causing hospital infections are endogenous pathogens, 20% come from the contaminated environment, and about 20-40% come from the contaminated hands of medical personnel.

Medical staff often come into contact with patients' blood, secretions, excretions, incomplete skin or other objects that may contain infectious pathogens, so disposable gloves are essential protective equipment for medical staff.

First analyze a few cases

2008 hospital infection outbreak in a hospital affiliated to a university in Xi'an

Since September 3, 2008, 8 out of 9 newborns in the Neonatology Department of the First Affiliated Hospital of a University Medical College in Xi'an died one after another because medical staff did not perform hand hygiene in a standardized manner. The report stated that the hands of some medical staff, the surfaces of ward objects, the bottles and pacifiers used by newborns, and the water filling port of the newborn incubator were tested, and it was found that the bacteria exceeded the standard, and there were obvious Staphylococcus aureus and Klebsiella pneumoniae. pollute.

A surgical incision infection incident in a hospital in Shantou City in 2009

"Notice of the General Office of the Ministry of Health on the incident of surgical incision infection in patients undergoing cesarean section at a health center in Chaoyang District, Shantou City, Guangdong Province", from October 9 to December 27, 2009, 38 patients from a health center in Chaoyang District, Shantou City, Guangdong Province A total of 18 of the cesarean delivery patients developed surgical incision infections. After investigation, the incident was caused by a surgical incision infection due to unqualified sterilization of surgical instruments, and the pathogenic bacteria was fast-growing mycobacteria.

HIV infection among patients in Zhejiang Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital in 2017

On January 26, 2017, the Zhejiang Provincial Health Commission received a report from the Zhejiang Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine that a technical staff member of the hospital seriously violated procedures during a certain technical operation, resulting in some treatment patients being infected with HIV, resulting in a major medical accident. After testing by the disease control agency, 5 cases were confirmed.

Hepatitis C infection incident in hemodialysis patients at Jiangsu Dongtai People's Hospital

On May 27, 2019, the Jiangsu Dongtai Municipal Government Information Office issued a notice stating that after screening and testing of all hemodialysis patients, Dongtai Municipal People's Hospital diagnosed and confirmed 69 patients with hepatitis C virus infection. According to the investigation by the national, provincial and Yancheng City expert groups, the main cause of the incident was due to the non-standard implementation of hand hygiene and disinfection of medical staff, disinfection of related equipment used during dialysis, and disinfection measures in the dialysis area.

Why wear disposable gloves?

These unhygienic "evil" hands remind us to wash our hands properly and wear disposable gloves. Some people may wonder: Since they have washed their hands, why do medical staff still wear gloves?

This is because hand washing is a short-lived action. Although correct hand washing can reduce 90% of bacteria on hands, the hands of medical staff are easily infected by transient bacteria. Each operation may increase the number of 100-1000 bacteria on hands. bacteria. In particular, nosocomial infections in the ICU are higher than those in ordinary wards, and the infection process is complex. The hands of medical staff, including nursing staff, have the highest probability of contact with critically ill patients during diagnosis, treatment and care.

There are reports in the literature that in general nursing operations, the number of bacterial contamination on hands is generally (103-105) cfu/c㎡; when the work is busy, the amount of bacteria on hands doubles, and the number of bacteria on the hands of nurses suctioning patients reaches 106 cfu/c c㎡, if the patient's perineal hands are washed, the number of contaminated bacteria is more than 1010cfu/c㎡. If medical staff fail to wash their hands after contact with patients or after contamination, the total bacterial count exceeds the standard rate of 100%, and the gram-negative bacilli carrying rate among ICU staff can reach more than 80%.

A large amount of data shows that maintaining hand hygiene is the most basic, simple and effective means to effectively prevent and control the spread of pathogens and thereby reduce the incidence of hospital infections. In order to keep your hands clean for a long time, it is necessary to wear disposable gloves.