Would universal gowning and gloving reduce the number of hospital-acquired infections? Twenty hospitals across the country are taking part in a government study to find out. For 9 months, every doctor, nurse, sanitation worker and visitor who enters critical care patient rooms at each facility must don gowns and gloves. Every person, every room, no exceptions.

Currently, most hospitals require gowning and gloving only when a patient is known to have certain drug-resistant infections. The idea of the study is to find out if wearing them with all patients will cut down on the number of infections. Of course, a consistent 100% hand hygiene compliance rate could negate the need for this type of intervention. The study focuses mainly on 2 drug-resistant infections - methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) - but looks at infections from contaminated intravenous lines, catheters and ventilators.

"We all assume that gowning and gloving prevents the spread of infection, but there's precious little data to support the practice. After all, it's difficult to undertake a randomized infection control trial," says Jason Bowling, MD, an assistant professor of infectious diseases at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio.

The 9-month, $5.7 million study will also look at whether infectious patients are seen less often by medical staff, says Dr. Bowling, on account of the required gowning and gloving. Ten hospitals will require gowns and gloves for all ICU patients. The other 10 will only require them for patients with drug-resistant infections, in keeping with federal recommendations.

Mark McGraw