It is no secret that staph infections are a problem.  And in hospital ICUs, about three-quarters of staph infections are methicillin-resistant.  So reduction of staph infections is extremely important.  Science Daily and the excellent DC Medical Malpractice & Patient Safety blog have written about an important study published in the New England Journal of Medicine that showed a drastic reduction in staph infections was achieved with two simple actions:

• Use of antibacterial soap
• Use of antibiotic ointments for all ICU patients

The study showed that infections were drastically reduced by use of these simple methods.   This is very important, especially for older immuno-compromised folks in the hospital.