Daffodil International University
Science & Information Technology => Science Discussion Forum => Life Science => Topic started by: russellmitu on March 01, 2014, 12:44:35 PM
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Although healthcare workers' hands are the main source of bacterial transmission in hospitals, physician's stethoscopes have now been found to actually play a major role in spreading deadly infections. Researchers at the University of Geneva hospitals assessed the level of bacterial contamination on physician's hands and stethoscopes following a single physical examination.
"Considering that stethoscopes are used repeatedly over the course of a day, come directly into contact with patient's skin and may harbour several thousands of bacteria (including MRSA) or drug resistant ones collected during a previous physical examination, we consider them as potentially significant vectors of transmission," said lead investigator Didier Pittet. "From infection control and patient safety perspectives, the stethoscope should be regarded as an extension of the physician's hands and be disinfected after every patient contact.'' Researchers examined 71 patients who were checked by one of three physicians using sterile gloves and a sterile stethoscope.
After they completed the examination, two parts of the stethoscope (the tube and diaphragm) and four regions of the physician's hands (back, fingertips, and thenar and hypothenar eminences) were measured for the total number of bacteria present. The stethoscope's diaphragm was more contaminated than all regions of the physician's hand except the fingertips. Further, the tube of the stethoscope was more heavily contaminated than the back of the physician's hand. Similar results were observed when contamination was due to methicillin-resistant Saureus (MRSA) after examining MRSA-colonized patients. "This work is the first to compare directly the level of contamination of physician's hands and stethoscopes. Stethoscope contamination is not trivial and is comparable to the contamination of healthcare worker's fingertips," the research said.