Years

Event(s)

1825

Labarraque publishes advice that healthcare providers attending patients with contagious diseases would benefit from moistening their hands with a liquid chloride solution.

1843

Oliver Wendell Holmes concludes that puerperal fever is spread by the hands of healthcare personnel.

1847

Semmelweis insists that providers clean their hands with a chlorine solution between each patient; the data show it to be more effective than handwashing with plain soap and water.

1961

U.S. Public health Service training film about recommended handwashing techniques.

1975, 1985

CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) publishes formal guidelines for handwashing practices.

1988, 1995

APIC (Association for Professionals in Infection Control) publishes handwashing guidelines; the 1995 version supported wider use of alcohol-based rubs.

1995, 1996

HICPAC (Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee) recommends using either an antimicrobial soap or a waterless antiseptic agent when leaving the room of a patient with multidrug-resistant pathogens such as VRE (vancomycin-resistant enterococci) and MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus).

2002

CDC publishes “Guideline for Hand Hygiene in Healthcare Settings”.

2009

WHO (World Health Organization) publishes “WHO Guidelines on Hand Hygiene in Health Care”.

2010-

Guideline updates.