An audit of the incidence of acute hand infections requiring surgery at Worcester Provincial Hospital before and after the implementation of increased hand hygiene awareness during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Background: Acute hand infections are a common occurrence in the South African healthcare setting, often requiring specialist care. This study aimed to describe the incidence of acute hand infections requiring surgery before and after the introduction of COVID-19 hand hygiene guidelines.

Methods: A retrospective cohort study compared acute hand infections at Worcester Provincial Hospital (WPH) during two periods in 2020, before (period 1) and after (period 2) the COVID-19 regulations were implemented. A control, which consisted of data from the same periods in the years 2018 and 2019 was used to compare findings.

Results: A total of 279 acute hand infections were identified for the three years, of which 2020 had the most cases (100 infections). In 2020, the total number of infections decreased by 56% from period 1 (64 infections) to period 2 (36 infections). However, the incidence increased from 12.4% (period 1) to 15% (period 2).

Conclusion: Although the total number of acute hand infections decreased significantly, the incidence increased. These findings occurred during two periods, before and after strict hand hygiene regulations were implemented. The findings of this study could not decisively support that increased hand hygiene had any effect on the incidence of acute hand infections.