Grant: CIHR Fellowship

Millions of Canadians have close contact with pets every day, but pets are not often considered as sources of disease for people, despite recent evidence that pathogens such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus and Clostridium difficile may be zoonotic. The potential role of veterinary clinics in the transmission of zoonotic pathogens in the community and occupational infections in clinic personnel has received little attention. Hospital-associated (HA) diseases are an important, though poorly quantified, problem in veterinary medicine. As in human medicine, higher-risk individuals, such as immunocompromised and surgical patients, may be particularly susceptible to HA pathogens. Treatment of infections is growingly problematic due to bacterial antimicrobial resistance. Infection prevention and control, rather than treatment, have therefore become increasingly important considerations, yet the field of veterinary infection control is still underdeveloped. In human healthcare, one of the most highly promoted infection control practices is hand hygiene. The hands of healthcare workers are the primary means of transmitting certain HA pathogens, and improved hand hygiene can have a significant impact on HA disease rates, yet hand hygiene compliance in human hospitals is poor. In veterinary practices, hand hygiene compliance and barriers to performing hand hygiene are unknown. With the emerging animal and public health concerns about major HA pathogens and their potential zoonotic transmission, and the potential positive impact of simply improving hand hygiene compliance in veterinary clinics, detailed investigation of this field is needed. This study will provide baseline data on hand hygiene practices among veterinary personnel in small animal clinics in Ontario. Self-assessment and remote monitoring will be used to assess hand hygiene compliance. The impact of the physical layout of clinics and educational interventions on compliance will also be evaluated.