Tork—an Essity brand— will be supporting World Hand Hygiene Day in an effort to raise awareness of sepsis. Often mislabeled as blood poisoning, sepsis is the life-threatening response of a patient’s own body to a pre-existing infection and has been found to be a contributing factor in 1/3 of all hospital deaths.¹ Fortunately, there are ways to prevent sepsis, and raising awareness about the condition can make a real difference, saving lives.

Each year sepsis causes on average six million deaths worldwide. It is the primary cause of death from infection and is more common than heart attacks.^2,3 This is why the Private Organizations for Patient Safety (POPS) and the World Health Organization (WHO) have focused this year’s World Hand Hygiene Day (WHHD) on the ways of preventing sepsis through effective hand hygiene.

Recent research commissioned by Tork found that 29% of healthcare facilities believe sepsis is a major issue, while 44% agreed that sepsis is a growing concern among staff and patients. Further, 89% of healthcare professionals believe that improved hand hygiene can play an important role in reducing sepsis rates. Research also shows that hand hygiene alone can reduce up to 40% of healthcare-related infections, but 61% of healthcare workers are still not adhering to best hand hygiene practices.^4,5,6

Preventing infection to begin with is the first step to sepsis prevention. This encompasses surveillance and early detection methods such as identifying high-risk patients and proactive care. Through other careful preventive measures, healthcare professionals can boost their patient’s general health and the body’s ability to fight infection. Simple actions include appropriate management of skin conditions to reduce transmission of infections—especially in high-risk patients— or making sure that patients are up to date with their vaccinations. 

If, despite best care, a patient still develops an infection, time is of the essence. In order to prevent and avoid sepsis, the infection needs to be closely monitored and managed. Being familiar with and applying local antimicrobial stewardship guidelines is a crucial step to ensure that the patient’s condition does not reach a critical state.

Since 1 in 10 patients worldwide will acquire at least one healthcare associated infection (HAI) that can develop into sepsis, hand hygiene plays a crucial part in the prevention of microbial cross-transmission from healthcare professionals to patients.^7,8 By applying the WHO’s ‘5 moments of hand hygiene’ tool, healthcare professionals can make a difference by practicing effective hygiene at appropriate times.

“With up to two in every five cases of HAIs caused by cross-infection via the hands of health care workers,⁹ World Hand Hygiene Day is an opportunity to remind and inspire health-care professionals about how critical hand hygiene is to help reduce healthcare-associated infections,” says Tom Bergin, Marketing Director for Essity Professional Hygiene, North America. 

To learn more about how to prevent sepsis, visit TorkUSA.com/WHHD.