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What if one of the most effective ways to tackle antimicrobial resistance was to prevent more infections from happening in the first place?
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is making infections harder to treat, putting patients at greater risk and adding pressure to healthcare systems. While responsible antibiotic use remains essential, there is another part of the solution we cannot afford to overlook: stopping infections before they spread.
From hand hygiene to effective cleaning and disinfection, everyday infection control practices can make a meaningful difference. But their impact depends on more than having procedures in place. It comes down to how consistently they are followed, whether the right products are used and whether people understand the role they play in preventing infection. >
The scale of the challenge makes this clear. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), up to 70% of healthcare-associated infections can be prevented through effective infection prevention and control measures, including good hand hygiene. Meanwhile, the UK Health Security Agency’s (UKHSA) 2023 survey, published in 2025, found that 7.6% of patients surveyed in England had a healthcare-associated infection. The survey covered 44,372 patients across participating healthcare organisations, providing a snapshot of the burden of these infections in England. [1] [1]
These figures show why infection control deserves more than a place in policy documents. It needs to be part of everyday practice, supported by the right products, clear procedures and staff who understand how and why those procedures matter.
Understanding the Link Between Infection Control and Antimicrobial Resistance
Antimicrobial resistance develops when microorganisms change in ways that allow them to survive medicines designed to kill them or stop their growth. How antimicrobials are used is clearly important, but we also need to think about how infections spread in the first place.
Infections can pass from person to person, but contaminated surfaces, equipment and frequently handled objects can also play a part in transmission. With around 80% of infections often cited as being spread through touch, hand hygiene and effective surface disinfection become particularly important in reducing opportunities for transmission. Preventing that spread matters because every infection avoided is potentially one less infection requiring treatment.
Responsible antimicrobial use remains essential, but it needs to sit alongside effective infection prevention. Good hygiene and infection control help break the chain of infection, reducing avoidable transmission and supporting the wider effort to tackle AMR.
Prevention Starts with Everyday Practice
There is rarely one single measure that prevents an infection. In practice, good infection control comes from getting a number of relatively simple things right, consistently.
Hand hygiene is an obvious example. Throughout a normal working day, hands come into contact with people, equipment and surfaces, all of which create opportunities for microorganisms to spread. Good hand hygiene, carried out properly and at the right time, helps reduce that risk.
But the product itself also matters. If a hand hygiene product causes skin irritation, dryness or discomfort, people may be less inclined to use it as frequently as they should. Poor product acceptability can therefore undermine hand hygiene compliance and potentially increase the opportunity for infection to spread. Choosing products that are both effective and suitable for frequent use is an important, but sometimes overlooked, part of a successful hand hygiene programme.
The same attention is needed when cleaning and disinfecting the environment. Frequently touched surfaces, shared equipment and surrounding areas can become contaminated through everyday use. Cleaning removes dirt and organic matter; disinfection then helps inactivate susceptible microorganisms when the correct product and procedure are used.
It is important to understand that these are not interchangeable steps. A disinfectant is not necessarily effective against every type of microorganism, and using a product incorrectly can affect its performance. The product must be suitable for the intended application, and its instructions, including the required contact time, must be followed.
Personal protective equipment, safe waste handling, appropriate equipment management and staff training all have a part to play. None of these measures should be considered in isolation. It is the combination of good practices that makes an infection control routine more effective.
Why Consistency Matters as Much as Compliance
Most healthcare organisations already have infection control policies and procedures. The challenge is making sure they work in the real world, particularly when people are busy and environments are under pressure.
Take shared equipment as a simple example. If a hand hygiene step is missed, a frequently touched surface is overlooked or a disinfectant is wiped away before the required contact time has elapsed, the intended level of protection may not be achieved.
That does not necessarily come down to a lack of knowledge. Time pressure, unclear responsibilities, inadequate training or simply not having the right product or equipment readily available can all affect what happens in practice.
This is why good processes and training matter just as much as the policy itself. People need to understand what is expected of them, have the right products available and know how to use them correctly. Regular review can then identify where procedures are working and where improvements are needed.
Ultimately, good infection control should be part of normal everyday practice, not something that receives attention only during an inspection or after an infection has occurred.
Supporting a Wider Strategy Against AMR
Infection prevention and antimicrobial stewardship tackle different sides of the same problem.
Stewardship is about using antimicrobial medicines responsibly. Infection prevention is about reducing the opportunity for infections to occur and spread in the first place. We need both.
If an infection can be prevented, the need for antimicrobial treatment may also be avoided. Of course, infections still need to be treated when they occur, but prevention can help reduce the overall reliance on antimicrobial medicines.
For healthcare organisations, that means looking at the whole infection prevention process: clear procedures, appropriate hygiene products, effective training and regular review of what is actually happening in practice.
Making Evidence-Led Hygiene a Priority
Choosing a disinfectant should involve more than simply reading the label. The important question is whether there is appropriate evidence to support its efficacy claims and whether the conditions needed to achieve that efficacy can realistically be followed in practice.
Contact time, the surface being treated, application method and the presence of organic matter can all affect performance. Even a product with strong efficacy data will not necessarily deliver the expected result if it is used incorrectly.
At Bioguard, this is something we feel strongly about. Products matter, but they are only part of effective infection prevention. Selecting the right product, understanding where and how it should be used, and backing that up with clear procedures and training gives hygiene programmes a much stronger foundation.
For us, evidence-led hygiene means looking beyond efficacy alone. A product needs to perform against the relevant microorganisms, but it also needs to be practical for the people expected to use it. In hand hygiene especially, efficacy, skin compatibility and user acceptability all contribute to making good hygiene achievable in everyday practice.
A Shared Responsibility for Better Infection Prevention
Antimicrobial resistance is not something that any one product, organisation or intervention can solve. Responsible use of medicines is essential, but so is preventing avoidable infections from occurring and spreading.
We should not underestimate the value of getting the basics right. Good hand hygiene, effective cleaning and disinfection, appropriate products and well-trained people may sound simple, but done consistently, they form an important part of effective infection prevention.
The aim should not simply be to have procedures written down. It should be to make sure those procedures work in practice every day.
Because tackling antimicrobial resistance does not start only with how we treat infection. It also starts with how effectively we prevent it.
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