Tork Research Reinforces Need to Promote Sepsis Awareness

Private Organizations for Patient Safety (POPS) and the World Health Organization (WHO) will focus World Hand Hygiene Day on sepsis awareness and prevention

PHILADELPHIA, April 30, 2018 /PRNewswire/ - On May 5, 2018, Tork—an Essity brand—will be supporting World Hand Hygiene Day in an effort to raise awareness of sepsis. Often mislabeled as blood poisoning, sepsis is the life-threatening response of a patient's own body to a pre-existing infection and has been found to be a contributing factor in 1/3 of all hospital deaths.¹ Fortunately, there are ways to prevent sepsis, and raising awareness about the condition can make a real difference, saving lives.

Each year sepsis causes on average six million deaths worldwide. It is the primary cause of death from infection and is more common than heart attacks.^2,3 This is why the Private Organizations for Patient Safety (POPS) and the World Health Organization (WHO) have focused this year's World Hand Hygiene Day (WHHD) on the ways of preventing sepsis through effective hand hygiene.

Recent research commissioned by Tork found that 29% of healthcare facilities believe sepsis is a major issue, while 44% agreed that sepsis is a growing concern among staff and patients. Further, 89% of healthcare professionals believe that improved hand hygiene can play an important role in reducing sepsis rates. Research also shows that hand hygiene alone can reduce up to 40% of healthcare-related infections, but 61% of healthcare workers are still not adhering to best hand hygiene practices.^4,5,6

Preventing infection to begin with is the first step to sepsis prevention. This encompasses surveillance and early detection methods such as identifying high-risk patients and proactive care. Through other careful preventive measures, healthcare professionals can boost their patient's general health and the body's ability to fight infection. Simple actions include appropriate management of skin conditions to reduce transmission of infections—especially in high-risk patients— or making sure that patients are up to date with their vaccinations.

If, despite best care, a patient still develops an infection, time is of the essence. In order to prevent and avoid sepsis, the infection needs to be closely monitored and managed. Being familiar with and applying local antimicrobial stewardship guidelines is a crucial step to ensure that the patient's condition does not reach a critical state.

Since 1 in 10 patients worldwide will acquire at least one healthcare associated infection (HAI) that can develop into sepsis, hand hygiene plays a crucial part in the prevention of microbial cross-transmission from healthcare professionals to patients.^7,8 By applying the WHO's '5 moments of hand hygiene' tool, healthcare professionals can make a difference by practicing effective hygiene at appropriate times.

"With up to two in every five cases of HAIs caused by cross-infection via the hands of health care workers,⁹ World Hand Hygiene Day is an opportunity to remind and inspire health-care professionals about how critical hand hygiene is to help reduce healthcare-associated infections," says Tom Bergin, Marketing Director for Essity Professional Hygiene, North America.

To learn more about how to prevent sepsis, visit TorkUSA.com/WHHD.      

About Tork
The Tork brand offers professional hygiene products and services to customers ranging from restaurants and healthcare facilities to offices, schools and industries. Products include dispensers, paper towels, toilet tissue, soap, napkins, and industrial and kitchen wipers. Through expertise in hygiene, functional design and sustainability, Tork has become a market leader. Tork is a global brand of Essity, and a committed partner to customers in over 90 countries. To keep up with the latest Tork news and innovations, please visit: www.torkusa.com.  

About Essity
Essity is a leading global hygiene and health company that develops, produces and sells Personal Care (Baby Care, Feminine Care, Incontinence Products and Medical Solutions), Consumer Tissue and Professional Hygiene products and solutions. Our vision is; Dedicated to improving well-being through leading hygiene and health solutions. Sales are conducted in approximately 150 countries under many strong brands, including the leading global brands TENA and Tork, and other brands, such as Leukoplast, Libero, Libresse, Lotus, Nosotras, Saba, Tempo, Vinda and Zewa. Essity has about 48,000 employees and net sales in 2016 amounted to approximately $12 billion. The business operations are based on a sustainable business model with focus on value creation for people and nature. The company has its headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden, and is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm. Essity used to be part of the SCA Group. More information at www.essity.com.

References: 1. Liu et al. JAMA. 2014;312(1):90-92. 2. Global Sepsis Alliance. Resolutions. 2017 (online) https://www.srlf.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/GSA-Resolution-Announcement-May-2017-News-Release.pdf. 3. UK Sepsis Trust. Sepsis Manual. 2018 (online) https://sepsistrust.org/wpcontent/uploads/2018/02/Sepsis_ Manual_2017_final_v7-red.pdf. 4. Kampf G, et al. Dtsch Arztebl Int. 2009;106(40):649-655. 5. WHO. Evidence of hand hygiene to reduce transmission and infections by multi-drug resistant organisms in health-care settings. 2013 (online) http://www.who.int/gpsc/5may/MDRO_literature-review.pdf. 6. WHO. Health Care Without Avoidable Infections: The critical role of infection prevention and control. 2016 (online) http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/246235/WHO-HIS-SDS-2016.10-eng.pdf?sequence=1. 7. WHO. HAIs Fact sheet. 2016 (Online) http://www.who.int/gpsc/country _work/gpsc_ccisc_fact_sheet_en.pdf?ua=1. 8. WHO. Guidelines on Hand Hygiene. 2009 (online) http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/44102/9789241597906_eng.pdf;jsessionid=EF3EBD475307437129620344CC1DEE66?sequence=1. 9. Weber DJ, et al. Am J Infect Control. 2010; 38(5 Suppl 1):S25-33.

SOURCE Essity