Have these people never considered changing disposable plastic gloves between patients in addition to thorough hand washing.
They should isolate the infected patients from the rest of the hospital community too, I should think.
If someone is known to have a superbacteria, then there are many precautions taken. If it isn’t known, then hands may be washed or latex gloves worn, but it can still be passed around on a sleeve, etc.
” CDC guidance for controlling CRE rests on traditional infection control strategy: rigorous hand cleaning by staff and visitors; isolating infected patients and requiring gowns and gloves for anyone contacting them; cutting antibiotic use to slow the development of resistant bacteria; and limiting use of invasive medical devices, such as catheters, that give bacteria a path into the body.
But the measure that may hold the most promise is contentious: screening patients for the bacteria so carriers can be isolated. There’s disparate opinion over who should be screened. Every patient? Only those whose history puts them at high risk for infection? Only those showing symptoms?”
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2012/11/29/bacteria-deadly-hospital-infection/1727667/