In a recent Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA, June 25, 2014, Volume 311: 2477-8 authors from UCLA make a case for avoiding shaking hands with others in any health care setting in order to avoid spreading nasty germs; the germs that are resistant to many antibiotics that run rampant in hospitals.

The authors cite multiple studies showing that bacteria easily spread from brief handshakes in hospital settings.  One study showed the spread of the deadly Clostridium difficile spores from shaking hands.
I like to watch the TED talks presentations on YouTube.  They are informative and I often also learn about how give better presentations in front of audiences.  A favorite TED talk was given by Jane McGonigal, a game designer who discussed how to increase your lifespan.  One of the important “social resiliency” aspects of increasing your lifespan is human contact.  Six seconds of handshaking can greatly increase levels of Oxytocin.  Increased levels of this hormone will increase your ability to work with others and find common solutions.  Without handshaking I worry about my levels of Oxytocin; maybe I’ll turn into an ogre.

I think that the bottom line from this OpEd piece is that hand washing is still the very best thing that one can do to prevent the spread of infection.  As my mentor in internal residency, Dr. Mark Crislip said many times, “Wash your damn hands.”

I don’t think that the social norm of shaking hands will go away anytime soon.  Handshaking represents trust and compassion especially when combined with good eye-contact and a patient demeanor.  Fist bumping just doesn’t achieve the same effect.