Microbiological Analysis of Surgeons’ Hands in a Public Hospital in São Luis, Maranhão State, Brazil: A Cross-Sectional Study

Antisepsis of the hands medical personnel is one most important steps in process patient care, since direct contact can cause cross-transfer potentially pathogenic microorganisms at surgical sites. This study aimed to analyze prevalence on 131 surgeons a university hospital before procedure. Swabs were collected from each clinician’s and after handwashing. The samples placed transport medium immediately delivered private clinical analysis laboratory São Luis-Maranhão. identified by ionization source mass spectrometry matrix-assisted laser desorption (MALDI-TOF), antibiotic susceptibility tests (AST) performed using Vitek2 Phoenix-BD automated system. results showed high frequency (100%) handwashing, but antisepsis, rate dropped significantly (p < 0.05) 27.5%. gram-positive species detected Staphylococcus spp. Micrococcus luteus, representing 83.9%, followed gram-negative species, Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, Acinetobacter baumanii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, gessardi, Pantoea septica, Serratia marcescens, Burkholderia lata. effectiveness hand antisepsis was 72.5%, demonstrating that surgeons’ are an infections hospitalized patients different care settings.