I know this subject has dragged on, but I spoke with Dr. Sara Critchley from
the CDC in Atlanta this morning regarding this subject.  There is no official
position on this, however, in her opinion the most likely problem with allowing
babies to remain unwashed would be the transmission of HepB from baby to baby.
This virus can exsist in completely dry conditions for up to 7 days.  If anyone
who touched the baby failed to wash hands thouroghly, there is a small but real
possibility of transmission to another baby.  Likewise, if Mom is ambulating in
the hall, anything she touches could potentially become a vector for the
virus.  She did stress that this risk was fairly small.  The risk to the hcps
would assumably be minimal because of vaccination.
She suggested that anyone interested in changing hospital policy on this matter
consider reaching a website: APEC.org which is a group of infection control
professionals.  Then after gathering the necessary info, approach your
hospitals infection control committee.
Hope this helps those of you interested in making this change.
Denny

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