Computer keyboards may contribute to patient infections. We cultured new keyboards,
with/without keyboard covers, before placing them in adult inpatient rooms and recultured
after 6 months. Nonpathogenic bacteria were present initially but potentially pathogenic
bacteria were cultured only after use. Coagulase negative Staphylococcus colonization increased after use (P < .001). Keyboards with a cover had more potentially pathogenic bacteria (22% vs
16%), which although not significant statistically (P = .72), likely due to sample size, trended against covers offering protection.
Key Words
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: November 09, 2017
Footnotes
Conflicts of interest: None to report.
Identification
Copyright
© 2018 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
