Doctors and nurses aren't surprised anymore when they walk into isolation rooms at Inova Fairfax Hospital and sick patients ask them whether their hands are clean. Years ago, such patients might be regarded as troublemakers, but now Inova's chief infection fighter, hospital epidemiologist Allan J. Morrison Jr., uses brochures to encourage patients to protect themselves by challenging caregivers' hand hygiene. "Anything that gets you talking about hand washing, anytime or anywhere, is music to the ears of an infectious disease professional," Morrison said. Medical experts at the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention enthusiastically agree with Morrison, and they...