Patients’ hands need a good scrub while in hospital, according to a US study that found they are commonly contaminated with multi-drug-resistant organisms (MDRO) at admission or early on in their stay.

Writing in Clinical Infectious Diseases, University of Michigan researchers called for a greater focus on patient hand hygiene after finding 10% of the nearly 400 patients (mean age 61) in their study of two hospitals had an MDRO on their hands at admission.

After taking 710 hand cultures and more than 4200 room cultures starting within 24 hours of each patient’s arrival until they left the hospital, they discovered:

According to the researchers, patient hand contamination could have significant ramifications given the emphasis on early mobility and frequent procedures out of their room.