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A Disinfection and Hand Hygiene Program for Schools

An Evidence-Based Practice

This practice has been Archived and is no longer maintained.

Description

This disinfection and hand hygiene program aimed to reduce gastrointestinal and respiratory illness-related absenteeism in elementary schools by using disinfectant surface wipes and hand sanitizer in conjunction with standard hand-hygiene protocol. Teachers disinfected classrooms with disinfecting wipes and encouraged the use of hand sanitizer after lunch, restroom visits, and contact with potentially infectious secretions on surfaces.

Goal / Mission

To reduce gastrointestinal and respiratory illness-related absenteeism in elementary school students by using surface disinfectants.

Results / Accomplishments

The effectiveness of this disinfection and hand hygiene program was evaluated by an eight-week randomized controlled trial. After adjusting for race, health status, family size, and hand-sanitizer use at home, absenteeism rate due to gastrointestinal illnesses in the intervention group was significantly lower than that of the control group (p-value < 0.05). There was also a significant reduction in the presence of
norovirus, a virus which causes diarrhea, on classroom surfaces in the intervention group compared to control group (9% vs. 29% surface sample tested positive, respectively; p-value < 0.01). However, the adjusted absenteeism rate due to respiratory illnesses was statistically insignificant between the two groups (p-value > 0.05), and no significant decrease in surface bacterial count on intervention classrooms was found (p-value > 0.05).

About this Promising Practice

Organization(s)
Children’s Hospital Boston
Primary Contact
Thomas J. Sandora
Children’s Hospital Boston
300 Longwood Ave.
Boston, Massachusetts, 02115
Thomas.sandora@childrens.harvard.edu
Topics
Health / Children's Health
Health / Immunizations & Infectious Diseases
Organization(s)
Children’s Hospital Boston
Source
The Clorox Company
Date of publication
2008
Date of implementation
2006
Location
USA
For more details
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=18519460
http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00514670...
Target Audience
Children, Adults, Families
Submitted By
Chia Shuo Chang, Eric Donn, Sharon Louie - UC Berkeley School of Public Health

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Related Content for: A Disinfection and Hand Hygiene Program for Schools

An Evidence-Based Practice meets the following HCI criteria:

  1. The program description includes at a minimum: the sponsoring organization, program goals, program implementation steps, and outcomes that have demonstrated program success in achieving the program goal in one or more localities.
  2. The results from an evaluation of the program include quantitative measures showing improvement in the outcome(s) of interest after the implementation of the program (i.e. increase in smoking cessation, not just the delivery of a smoking cessation program). The outcome measure(s) is/are compared at relevant time periods before and after the intervention or program implementation. Alternatively, the evaluation study compares the outcome(s) between an intervention group and an appropriate control group.
  3. The study is of peer-review quality and presents numbers in a scientific manner; measurements of precision and reliability are included (e.g. confidence intervals, standard errors), results from statistical tests show a significant difference or change in the outcome measure(s), and relevant point estimates and p-values are presented. Note: if the results from an evaluation of a program are presented in a scientific manner and the outcome measure is improved compared to the baseline measurement or the control group but the difference is not statistically significant, the practice is classified as effective and not evidence-based.
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