A motion-activated voice message now greets visitors, doctors and staff to Greater Niagara General Hospital, asking them to clean their hands when they enter the main entrance and other areas of the building.

SAN DIEGO – Adding a simple question to the daily ICU checklist about handwashing before touching patients significantly improved handwashing compliance and was associated with a decreased rate of central line–associated bloodstream infections in a surgical intensive care unit over the course of 6 months.

While showing my sister-in-law around Paraguay, we stopped at the mall to let her sample typical “snack” food. Back in the day, ladies on the side of the road sold this type of snack food with baskets on their heads. In some parts of the country, it is still sold this way – but that’s a whole different food safety story.

A group of Ohio hospitals say they saved $13 million from an 18-month effort to prevent infections and errors. The 17 Central Ohio hospitals, including all those in Columbus and surrounding counties from Circleville to Marion, released their Solutions for Patient Safety report Tuesday (PDF here).

Washington -- A new poll finds that the vast majority of Americans use antibacterial soap and consider it to be a useful tool to prevent the spread of germs.  And two-thirds of Americans would be “angry” at any government attempts to ban these products.

KMBC.com reports that players with the Kansas City Chiefs football team have been ordered to wash their hands thoroughly with soap and hot water to keep anyone from getting sick. Pro Bowl left guard Brian Waters missed a second straight practice Thursday as the Chiefs prepared to host Baltimore on Sunday in the first round of the AFC playoffs.

Hepatitis A is one of those human-only diseases that spreads when virus particles are shed in poop, and get into dirty water, or onto hands that are not effectively washed. Health officials on Long Island say hundreds of people may have been exposed to hepatitis A while receiving communion on Christmas Day.