醫護人員的制服常有病原汙染

醫護人員的手、制服都可能傳染病原，應該是很早就知道的吧!

下提這個調查只是在一家大學醫院。不知道是否能由衛生署主導，在台灣做五、六家、大中小醫院的 random (隨機)調查? 雖然結果很明顯，可是也可以了解台灣的狀況，令醫護人員警惕，加強院內感染的預防，可在醫院評鑑時做為評鑑項目之一，是病人之福、也是醫護人員的責任。

 

Healthcare Workers Uniforms Often Contaminated

Emma Hitt, PhD

September 2, 2011 — A large proportion of hospital staff's
uniforms may be colonized with potentially pathogenic bacteria, including
drug-resistant organisms, that may represent an important source of nosocomial
infections, new research suggests.

A
single-institution study conducted in Jerusalem, Israel, was reported by Yonit Wiener-Well, MD, and colleagues from
the Shaare Zedek Medical Center, Hebrew University–Hadassah Medical School,
Jerusalem. The study was published in the September issue of the American
Journal of Infection Control.

"Several studies have demonstrated bacterial
contamination of the uniforms and clothing of health care workers (HCWs) during
patient care activities," Dr. Wiener-Well and colleagues write.
"Nevertheless, few organizations have made recommendations for provision
and exchange of HCWs' clothing," they add.

The current study evaluated the bacterial load on uniforms
worn by nurses and physicians in a
550-bed, university-affiliated hospital, in Jerusalem. A total of 135
physicians and nurses from the medical and surgical wings were included in the
analysis.

Each participant responded to a questionnaire asking how
long the participant had been wearing his or her current uniform, how clean
they thought it was, and how often they changed it. In addition, 238 standard blood agar plates were made
from cultures obtained in the abdominal area, the ends of sleeves, and pockets
taken from 135 personnel, of whom 55% were nurses and 45% were physicians.

Of the participants, 58%
stated that they changed their uniform daily, and 77% described the hygiene of
their attire as "fair to excellent." However, in 63% of participants'
uniforms, potentially pathogenic bacteria were isolated from at least 1 site,
making up 50% of the samples taken.

Of
the samples with antibiotic-resistant bacteria, 14% came from nurses' gowns,
and 6% came from physicians' gowns, which is not significantly different. There was also no significant difference between staff from
medical departments and those from surgical departments.

According to the researchers, the "high prevalence of contaminated uniforms might be related to
inadequate compliance with hand hygiene, given that the sampled sites (ie,
abdominal zone, sleeve ends, and pockets on the dominant side) are
characterized by frequent hand touches."

Study limitations include the estimation of number of days
that uniforms were worn before sampling, use of only 4 clean samples from
hospital laundry as controls, lack of information regarding whether hospital
personnel washed uniforms at home or via hospital laundry services, and
possible selection bias.

"Wearing a clean uniform daily, providing adequate
laundering, improving hand hygiene practices, and using plastic aprons when
performing tasks that may involve splashing or contact with body fluids likely
will decrease the bacterial load on uniforms,"
the authors conclude.

"Wearing short-sleeved coats or even having physicians
discard their white coats could further reduce the cloth-borne transmission of
pathogens," they add.

The authors have disclosed no relevant financial
relationships.

Am J Infect Control.
2011;39:555-559. Abstract

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