introduction: nosocomial infections affect nearly 10% of hospitalized patients. the majority of nosocomial infections are transmitted by contact, primarily by hands of health care workers. the micro-organisms on the hand can be divided into transient, resident and infectious flora. transient flora is the main cause of nosocomial infection which acquired primarily by contact and loosely attached...

Within a hand-washing clinical trial, we evaluated factors associated with fomite contamination in households with an influenza-infected child. Influenza virus RNA contamination was higher in households with low absolute humidity and in control households, suggesting that hand washing reduces surface contamination.

BACKGROUND Cross-transmission of microorganisms by the hands of health care workers is considered the main route of spread of nosocomial infections. OBJECTIVE To study the process of bacterial contamination of health care workers' hands during routine patient care in a large teaching hospital. METHODS Structured observations of 417 episodes of care were conducted by trained external observe...

Methods Efficacy studies were conducted according to ASTM E1174 or with modifications to the hand contamination procedure as follows: For ASTM E2755 studies, hands were contaminated with 0.2 ml of a concentrated challenge suspension to reduce soil load and eliminate post contamination hand wetness commonly associated with testing per E1174. For the “contact contamination” procedure hands were c...

We investigated Staphylococcus aureus contamination of the hand rims and handles of wheelchairs for common use on hospital wards by wiping with gauze. Examination of the hand rims of a total of 20 wheelchairs revealed methicillin-sensitive S. aureus (MSSA) and/or methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) on 17 wheelchairs (85.0%), and MRSA on 11 (55.0%). The mean ± SD (range) density of MRSA conta...

To the Editor: Editor, I read the recent published work on glove removal method and distance with a great interest. Lai et al concluded that ‘‘The impact of the glove removal procedure and the distance to the bin in which used gloves are discarded should be taken into consideration on a daily basis’’. I would like to add somemore factors that are reported to be relating to the hand contaminatio...

OBJECTIVES To compare the contamination level of physicians' hands and stethoscopes and to explore the risk of cross-transmission of microorganisms through the use of stethoscopes. PATIENTS AND METHODS We conducted a structured prospective study between January 1, 2009, and May 31, 2009, involving 83 inpatients at a Swiss university teaching hospital. After a standardized physical examination...