Using wash cloths in jails shows promise for reducing costly infections

(Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America) New research shows providing detainees wash cloths treated with a skin cleanser could reduce the prevalence of S. aureus bacteria in US jails. Researchers looked at the effect of using wash cloths treated with chlorhexidine gluconate compared with wash cloths with only plain water in detainees at Dallas County Jail. The study was published in the December issue of Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, the journal of SHEA.