Hand drying - a lot of hot air?

<p>In this episode, Brett Mitchell and Martin Kiernan discuss methods of drying hands after hand hygiene has been performed, with a focus on hand dryers versus paper towel. Personal details about Martin's habits are disclosed as we mull this over and present some papers.</p> <p>Papers presented include:</p> <p>1. Suen, L. K., Lung, V. Y., Boost, M. V., Au-Yeung, C. H., & Siu, G. K. (2019). Microbiological evaluation of different hand drying methods for removing bacteria from washed hands. Scientific reports, 9(1), 1-7.  <a href='https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-50239-4'>https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-50239-4</a></p> <p>2. Reynolds, K. A., Sexton, J. D., Norman, A., & McClelland, D. J. (2021). Comparison of electric hand dryers and paper towels for hand hygiene: a critical review of the literature. Journal of applied microbiology, 130(1), 25-39.  <a href='https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32794646/'>https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32794646/</a></p> 3. Best, E., Parnell, P., Couturier, J., Barbut, F., Le Bozec, A., Arnoldo, L., ... & Wilcox, M. H. (2018). Environmental contamination by bacteria in hospital washrooms according to hand-drying method: a multi-centre study. Journal of Hospital Infection, 100(4), 469-475. <a href='https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30006281/'>https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30006281/</a>