Alcohol-based hand-disinfection reduced children’s absence from Swedish day care centers.

A study carried out in day care centres in 10 counties in south and central Sweden showed that using hand disinfection with ethyl alcohol reduced absenteeism among children due to illness by 12%. The study included 1,431 children in 29 day care centres during a 30-week period from 2004 to 2005. Centres were paired, using either hand disinfection after hand washing, or soap and water only. In the intervention group, staff and children used hand disinfection gel containing 70% ethyl alcohol following each hand wash with soap, on average between two and six times per day, after bathroom use, before eating, and when dirty. Acta Paediatrica. Epub 1 Oct 2008; DOI: 10.1111/j.1651-2227.2008.01057.x.