INFECTION rates of Staphylococcus Aureus spiked after parents were given more skin-to-skin contact with premature newborns, a study found.

Neonatal intensive care units increasingly encourage more interaction between parents and premature babies to aid the babies’ development.

However, a children’s hospital in the US noticed an unwanted side effect in 2016, after infection rates increased.

Increased awareness of hand hygiene, mandatory education of staff around the infection and ensuring parents skin was cleansed led to a reduction in cases.

Read more: Two babies die after being treated for infection at Glasgow hospital 

In the first-year post intervention, 20 babies in the small-baby unit at the hospital in Michigan developed SA infections, compared to 59 patients in the year prior.

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde has said parents as well as staff have been briefed on the importance of infection control following the outbreak at the Princess Royal Maternity hospital and death of two infants.

Gwen Westerling, the study author said: “The results demonstrate that interventions even as simple as cleaning the skin prior to care can drastically improve infection rates.”

“Increased education around hand hygiene and cleaning procedures may seem straightforward, but we see again and again that they are key components in the reduction of healthcare-associated infections.”