Calls for Doctors Replace Handshake Amid Fears it Spreads Disease

By admin May 21, 2014 08:48

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Researchers are reaching out to doctors to give up shaking patient’s hands and say that the practice could be as harmful as smoking.

Their suggestion? to use a wave or a bow to be used instead of a handshake.

The team claims that even though the handshake is a ‘deeply established cultural custom,’ it can spread disease between patients.

When the worker’s hands become contaminated with pathogens from their patients, and, despite efforts to limit the spread of disease, cross-contamination of health care workers’ hands commonly occurs through routine patient and environmental contact, the report states.

‘Regulations to restrict the handshake from the health care setting, in conjunction with more robust hand hygiene programs, may help limit the spread of disease and thus could potentially decrease the clinical and economic burden associated with hospital-acquired infections and antimicrobial resistance.