Information for patients and the public: hand hygiene and antibiotic resistance

Patient Leaflets

We can all help ourselves and our families from getting infections.  There are lots of tips and information in the patient leaflets section including how to prevent infection. 

Keeping well

The HSE has lots of information on helping you and your family get better from common illnesses on undertheweather.ie

Help reduce antibiotic-resistant bugs by not asking for antibiotics from your GP for colds and flu's

Washing hands regularly is the single most effective way of stopping the spread of many common infections and staying well.  When you follow good hand hygiene technique you can reduce the risk of infection at home, work, school – wherever you are.  Bacteria and microorganisms are on all surfaces with the exception of very recently decontaminated surfaces in clinical areas . Regular, correct hand washing is one of the most important and simple things that we can do to protect our health. 

Hands will pick up germs (bacteria and viruses), and even though they may appear to be clean, the germs will be there. Have a look at our short hand hygiene video, you might get a surprise

CPE patient information

CPE is a relatively new superbug that is found in some hospitals in Ireland, there is further information for patients contained in our Patient Toolkit

More information

Feedback to: hcai.amrteam@hse.ie