Surface Micropattern Resists Bacterial Contamination Transferred by Healthcare Practitioners

Hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) are responsible for clinical complications with an estimated 6.1% increase in attributable deaths [1,2]. HAIs increased the length of stay in a hospital from 5.9 to 9.6 days based on one study of over 1,250 patients [1]. Concomitantly, estimated healthcare costs double for patients with HAIs [1,3]. As many as 27% of hospital ward patient rooms are contaminated with S. aureus, and as many as 64% of burn intensive care unit surfaces are contaminated with S. aureus [4]. Cross-contamination of the hands of healthcare practitioners (HCP) previously in direct patient contact or indirectly by touching contaminated environmental surfaces has been shown to contribute to 20-40% of HAIs [2,5]. Contaminated hospital surfaces have been carefully investigated in numerous studies and identified to be a major source of HAIs [6-9]. Despite an improved understanding of the role of environmental contamination, bioburden remains unacceptably high between terminal cleanings [10,11]. Sampling environmental surfaces following terminal cleanings identified that less than 50% of the surfaces were truly clean [12-14]. Microorganisms identified on environmental surfaces include bacteria, viruses, and fungi, each with potential to cause HAIs. Additionally, Abstract