Background
Uniforms worn by medical and nursing staff are not usually considered important in
the transmission of microorganisms. We investigated the rate of potentially pathogenic
bacteria present on uniforms worn by hospital staff, as well as the bacterial load
of these microorganisms.
Methods
Cultures were obtained from uniforms of nurses and physicians by pressing standard
blood agar plates at the abdominal zone, sleeve ends, and pockets. Each participant
completed a questionnaire.
Results
A total of 238 samples were collected from 135 personnel, including 75 nurses (55%)
and 60 physicians (45%). Of these, 79 (58%) claimed to change their uniform every
day, and 104 (77%) defined the level of hygiene of their attire as fair to excellent.
Potentially pathogenic bacteria were isolated from at least one site of the uniforms
of 85 participants (63%) and were isolated from 119 samples (50%); 21 (14%) of the
samples from nurses’ gowns and 6 (6%) of the samples from physicians’ gowns (P = NS) included of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
Conclusion
Up to 60% of hospital staff’s uniforms are colonized with potentially pathogenic bacteria,
including drug-resistant organisms. It remains to be determined whether these bacteria
can be transferred to patients and cause clinically relevant infection.
Key Words
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Article info
Footnotes
Conflict of interest: None to report.
Identification
Copyright
© 2011 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
