In reply: We thank Woollard for his comments on hand hygiene. While important, hand hygiene is just one component of what is needed to decrease the spread of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in hospitals. Decontamination of the environment, contact precautions for colonised patients, active surveillance and screening, effective programs to prevent common infections such as intravascular catheter sepsis, good antibiotic stewardship and better hospital design are also indispensable.1
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- 1 Infectious Diseases Unit and Microbiology Department, Canberra Hospital, Canberra, ACT.
- 2 Infectious Diseases Department, Austin Health, Melbourne, VIC.
- 3 Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC.
- 4 Department of Medicine, University of Melbourne, VIC.
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