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The fear of MRSA has become a serious issue in the United Kingdom. Only a hand full of hospitals and care homes in the UK have been effected by the disease yet the media coverage has led many of us to think that we will catch it as soon as we step into a hospital. This is a common misconception as most UK hospitals are now aware of the problem and are using every method they can to prevent its spread.

Using medical gloves is an efficient way of preventing the transfer of MRSA from person to person. The barrier created by the gloves prevents the MRSA infection, which lives on the skin from coming into contact with someone else’s skin. Often these are medical gloves as the gloves can only be used whilst dealing with one patient, otherwise the virus can get on to the glove and be passed on to another patient, family member or employee.

There are a wide variety of different materials that can form a protective barrier against MRSA. Latex gloves and nitrile gloves are the most commonly used in the surgical industry. The reason for this is that they do not only form a protective barrier they are also very comfortable, durable and provide enough feeling for technical procedures. Nitrile gloves are often used instead of latex gloves because many people suffer from latex allergies caused by the proteins in the material. These types of glove are often coloured purple or blue, the reason for this is so it is easy to detect any tears or damage.

Alcohol hand rubs are used in many medical institutions to stop the spread of MRSA. You often see these hand rubs attached to the walls of hospitals, doctors’ surgeries and nursing homes so that they can be found easily and as a reminder to use them. They are very simple to use as the alcohol hand rub is squeezed into the hands and is then rubbed in to the skin until it has disappeared. The alcohol rub effectively kills any bacteria that may be on the skin.

A new type of prevention against MRSA has recently been introduced as an all over body wash. Hibiscrub is a body wash that has a residual effect that lasts for up to 6 hours, this means it kills any existing bacteria on your skin as well as stopping any re-infection. Hibiscrub contains chlorhexidine gluconate, that binds to the skin forming a protective layer rather than just killing bacteria that is already there.

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