Campaign against shaking hands in hospitals of Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa has nothing to do with swine flu

Posters and bulletins remind staff of importance of hand hygiene

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A campaign against shaking hands has commenced in the hospitals of the Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa (HUS).
      “In hospital settings hospital bacteria such as MRSA and other diseases spread through touch”, explains senior consultant Asko Järvinen.
      “One such touch occurs when a doctor shakes hands with a patient during his or her rounds. The aim of this campaign is to emphasise that such a common practice of social interaction is not necessarily well suited to hospitals.”
     
Posters explaining what the campaign is all about have been printed and posted on the hospital walls. The campaign is also visible on the HUS Intranet, and hygienists give training sessions to the staff on the subject.
      According to Järvinen, the campaign has been prepared for months, and the fact that it happens to take place in the middle of the swine flu stir is a pure coincidence.
      But sheer abstaining from shaking hands does not stop the germs from spreading.
      “It is a question of hand hygiene on a broader scale. The staff should remember to disinfect their hands after each time they have dealt with a patient”, Järvinen says.
     
In other Helsinki and Espoo health centres, wards, and hospitals no new instructions have been issued regarding shaking of hands.
      “Traditionally we have refrained from shaking people’s hands, especially during the flu season.”
      Some health centres post permanent signs that urge people not to shake hands.
      “The nursing staff are reminded of the high level of basic hygiene and, in particular, of the use of hand disinfectant”, explains senior medical officer Tuija Kumpulainen from the City of Espoo.
     
There have also been rumours circulating the HUS hospitals that measures would have been taken to start giving the staff influenza jabs because of the swine flu scare.
      “This is not true”, says senior physician Ville Valtonen of the HUS Infectious Diseases Clinic. “Each year those workers who request the jab are given it. Usually about half of our staff receives the vaccination.”
      This year some extra vaccines remained in storage, and during the spring, jabs were given to those working in emergency duty.
      The aim of the vaccination is to prevent the staff from getting flus and colds that could lead to sick days.
      “Of course it may be that the swine flu scare acted as an extra motivator for some of our workers to take the jab, just in case”, Valtonen ponders.
     
Thus far there have been two suspected cases of H1N1 flu in Finland, but neither is believed likely to be confirmed as the real deal.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Swine flu scare spurs demand for masks (30.4.2009)

Helsingin Sanomat