Highlights
- •We assessed the in vitro colonization rate of stickers used for intravenous lines identification.
- •We tested different manipulation procedures to test colonization.
- •We recovered microorganisms from the manipulator hands in almost all the stickers.
- •All the stickers became colonized within 5 days.
- •Nonadhesive sides of the stickers have significantly more colony forming units than adhesive sides.
Background
Clear differentiation of arterial and intravenous (IV) lines is a safety strategy
recommended by the World Health Organization, and signaling stickers attached to IV
lines are implemented in many institutions. However, the risk of colonization of the
stickers' surface has not been evaluated. Our objective was to assess the colonization
rate of stickers used for IV lines identification in an in vitro model using 3 different
contamination degrees.
Methods
A set of 30 stickers used for IV lines identification were exposed to low, medium,
and high contamination degrees for up to 15 days. Twice a day, a single manipulator
vigorously touched the surface of the stickers simulating the daily handling. Surface
cultures of all stickers were performed daily. The microorganisms recovered were counted
and identified by phenotypic characteristics.
Results
Colonization occurred after 5 days in low and medium manipulation models and after
3 days in the high manipulation model. Nonadhesive sticker sides were associated with
greater significant numbers of colony forming units when manipulation was performed
without gloves.
Conclusion
Stickers used for the identification of IV lines may become potential reservoirs of
catheter colonization. Clinical studies to validate these data and design policies
of stickers' changes are required.
Graphical Abstract
Graphical Abstract
Key Words
To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
Purchase one-time access:
Academic & Personal: 24 hour online accessCorporate R&D Professionals: 24 hour online accessOne-time access price info
- For academic or personal research use, select 'Academic and Personal'
- For corporate R&D use, select 'Corporate R&D Professionals'
Subscribe:
Subscribe to American Journal of Infection ControlAlready a print subscriber? Claim online access
Already an online subscriber? Sign in
Register: Create an account
Institutional Access: Sign in to ScienceDirect
References
- The dangers of trying to make ends meet: accidental intravenous administration of enteral feed.Anaesth Intensive Care. 2003; 31: 324-327
- Medication errors: oral paracetamol liquid administered intravenously: time for hospital to issue oral syringes to clinical areas?.Pharmacy in Practice. 2001; 7: 221
- Reducing the risk of wrong route errors.Paediatr Nurs. 2007; 19: 33-35
- Prevention of wrong route errors in a pediatric hemato-oncology ward.Pharm World Sci. 2009; 31: 522-524
WHO patient safety curriculum guide: multi-professional edition. Available from: http://www.who.int/patientsafety. 2011. Accessed September 15, 2014.
- Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. The Joint Commission announces 2014 National Patient Safety Goal.Jt Comm Perspect. 2013; 33 (1,3-4)
- Sampling with adhesive tape strips: an easy and rapid method to monitor microbial colonization on monument surfaces.J Microbiol Methods. 2001; 44: 1-11
- Density of microbial colonization on external and internal surfaces of concurrently placed intravascular devices.Am J Crit Care. 2012; 21: 162-171
- An in vitro and in vivo study on the intensity of adhesion and colonization by Staphylococcus epidermidis and Pseudomonas aeruginosa on originally synthesized biomaterials with different chemical composition and modified surfaces and their effect on expression of TNF-alpha, beta-defensin 2 and IL-10 in tissues.Medicina (Kaunas). 2011; 47: 560-565
- Effectiveness of different cleaning agents against the colonization of Candida spp and the in vitro detection of the adherence of these yeast cells to denture acrylic surfaces.Yonsei Med J. 2008; 49: 647-654
- Contamination, disinfection, and cross-colonization: are hospital surfaces reservoirs for nosocomial infection?.Clin Infect Dis. 2004; 39: 1182-1189
- Guidelines for the prevention of intravascular catheter-related infections.Clin Infect Dis. 2011; 52: e162-e193
- A review of medication incidents reported to the National Reporting and Learning System in England and Wales over 6 years (2005-2010).Br J Clin Pharmacol. 2012; 74: 597-604
- A randomized and prospective study of 3 procedures for the diagnosis of catheter-related bloodstream infection without catheter withdrawal.Clin Infect Dis. 2007; 44: 820-826
- A conservative procedure for the diagnosis of catheter-related infections.Arch Intern Med. 1990; 150: 1417-1420
- Predictive value of superficial cultures to anticipate tunneled hemodialysis catheter-related bloodstream infection.Diagn Microbiol Infect Dis. 2014; 78: 316-319
- Value of superficial cultures for prediction of catheter-related bloodstream infection in long-term catheters: a prospective study.J Clin Microbiol. 2013; 51: 3025-3030
- Relationship between shared patient care items and healthcare-associated infections: a systematic review.Int J Nurs Stud. 2014; ([Epub ahead of print])
Article info
Footnotes
Financial support: M. Guembe was supported by the Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria (grant no. CP13/00268).
Conflict of interest: None to report.
Identification
Copyright
© 2014 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
