Impact of a hygiene intervention on virus spread in an office building.

Viral illnesses have a significant direct and indirect impact on the workplace that burdens employers with increased healthcare costs, low productivity, and absenteeism. Workers' direct contact with each other and contaminated surfaces contributes to the spread of viruses at work. This study quantifies the impact of an office wellness intervention (OWI) to reduce viral load in the workplace.

Review of human hand microbiome research.

Recent advances have increased our understanding of the human microbiome, including the skin microbiome. Despite the importance of the hands as a vector for infection transmission, there have been no comprehensive reviews of recent advances in hand microbiome research or overviews of the factors that influence the composition of the hand microbiome. A comprehensive and systematic database search was conducted for skin microbiome-related articles published from January 1, 2008 to April 1, 2015.

Use of a Hand Sanitizing Wipe for Reducing Risk of Viral Illness in the Home.

This study determined whether a hand sanitizing wipe can reduce virus transmission in households, and could reduce the probability of infection by rhinovirus and rotavirus. Bacteriophage MS-2 (a marker virus) was used to assess viral transmission in five households having at least two children of ages 2-18. Hands of one female adult were inoculated with ~10(8) PFU MS-2 bacteriophages in each home, and after 8 h, hands of all family members and select fomites were sampled to determine baseline contamination without intervention.

Comparison of 3 in vivo methods for assessment of alcohol-based hand rubs.

Background: Alcohol-based hand rubs (ABHRs) are the primary method of hand hygiene in health-care settings. ICPs increasingly are assessing ABHR product efficacy data as improved products and test methods are developed. As a result, ICPs need better tools and recommendations for how to assess and compare ABHRs.