H1N1 VIRUS PREVENTION UPDATE

Hand Sanitizers vs Washing Hands

“Good Morning America” conducted a research experiment where they deliberately put E.coli bacteria on the hands of graduate students at the University of Maryland. After trying variations of sanitizers and soaps, the results are in!

WATCH VIDEO: Washing Hands With Soap vs. Hand Sanitizer

Additional Tips on Preventing the Swine Flu

Source: ABC News, “Good Morning America.” Elisabeth Leamy. October 29, 2009

Radio-Frequency Badges Created to Track Hand-Washing Habits

October 2009
The Texas Tech University System Office of Technology Commercialization is developing a radio-frequency identification (RFID) monitoring system for badges worn by health care and food facility workers to monitor their hand hygiene habits.

According to the University, statistics reveal infections caused by the spread of hospital-originated infections have increased by 109 percent over the past ten years. Simple hand washing can decrease the rate of infection by as much as 48 percent.

“As the regulatory environment for health care shifts and the likelihood of more vigilant insurance increases, the need for such a technology in the present market exists and could prove to be highly profitable.”

The University identifies the restaurant industry and other sanitation-conscious industries such as grocery stores and food packing facilities as secondary markets. Testing has just begun.

Meanwhile, General Electric’s Research team has received $2 million from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences to develop wearable RFID sensors to alert people to the presence of environmental chemical agents in the air.

GE’s research is geared toward providing real-time information about the presence of potentially harmful chemical agents i the air. Breath sensors are included, and can potentially identify bio markers, helping to warn against the presence of certain diseases. These sensors can also be placed with an ID badge.

READ PRESS RELEASE: Hand Washing, Prompting and Compliance System by Texas Tech University System Office of Technology Commercialization

READ PRESS RELEASE: GE Scientists Developing Wearable RFID Sensors to Detect Airborne Chemical Agents

For more information on how Metroclean can provide hand-sanitizer stations throughout your building, or to retrofit your restrooms with automatic sensors, please contact Lesli Mann, Director of Business Development at (713) 255-0100 or at lmann@Metrocleanonline.com

Photo courtesy of Telegraph.co.uk.

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Written by: Dahlia Kelada, Director of Marketing, Metroclean  dahliak@metrocleanonline.com