Rigorous hand hygiene alone effective in preventing drug-resistant NICU infections

A German clinical trial found rigorous hand hygiene practices alone may be just as effective as hand hygiene, gloves and gowns in preventing bloodstream infections among infants colonized with drug-resistant organisms in neonatal intensive care units, according to a study. Published in JAMA Network Open, the cluster-randomized crossover clinical trial included 9,731 infants at 12 sites between 2020 and 2023. Twenty-two of 4,699 infants (0.5%) developed blood-stream infections in the hand hygiene group compared with 25 of 5,032 infants (0.5%) in the extended barrier precautions group. The authors say the findings suggest more targeted, evidence-based practices for infection control could be used. (Medical Dialogues article, 6/7/26)