Kimberly-Clark Offering Free Information on Hand Washing and Germ Prevention to Mark 'Clean Hands Week'

The information can be downloaded from the Kimberly-Clark Professional Web site at http://www.kcprofessional.com/us/Resource-Center/wellnessguides.asp.

The free information includes hand hygiene tips for the general public as well as for health care workers, and health and hygiene wellness guides for office buildings, schools, health care facilities, hotels and manufacturing sites. A downloadable poster on the proper use of waterless hand sanitizers also is available.

The information will continue to be posted on the Web site after Clean Hands Week ends.

Hand washing is one of the most important things you can do to keep from getting sick, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). CDC estimates that food-borne illnesses cause about 76 million cases of illnesses, more than 300,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths in the United States each year.

CDC also estimates that each year nearly 2 million patients in the United States get an infection in hospitals and about 90,000 of these patients die as a result of their infection. Improved hand hygiene can help reduce the number of both food-borne illnesses and hospital-acquired infections.