After an Outbreak of a Drug-Resistant Strain of Bacteria (Enterococci $E$

Essay

After an outbreak of a drug-resistant strain of bacteria (Enterococci faecium), hospital officials became concerned that their alcohol-based handrub (ABHR) hand hygiene program was not sufficient to prevent spreading this bacteria. The officials solicited 20 volunteers to assess the effectiveness of ABHR. The volunteers' hands were contaminated with $E$ . faecium. After gathering baseline data on the amount of bacteria present they performed the recommended hand hygiene according to the World Health Organization protocol. The amount of bacteria present was then assessed again. Summary measures and boxplots of the baseline sample, the postABHR sample, and the reduction in the amount of bacteria ( $\log _ { 10 } ($ bacteria $\left. / \mathrm { mL } ) \right)$ are presented below. Do these data provide sufficient evidence that the ABHR is effective against the E. faecium?