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Healthcare Personnel Attire and Devices as Fomites: A Systematic Review

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 September 2016

Nicholas Haun ,
Christopher Hooper-Lane  and
Nasia Safdar
Nicholas Haun
Affiliation:
Division of Hospital Medicine, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, Wisconsin
Christopher Hooper-Lane
Affiliation:
Ebling Library, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, Wisconsin
Nasia Safdar*
Affiliation:
Division of Infectious Disease, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, Wisconsin Wlliam S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital, Madison, Wisconsin
*
Address correspondence to Nasia Safdar, MD, PhD, 5138 MFCB, 1685 Highland Ave, Madison, WI 53705 (ns2@medicine.wisc.edu).
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Abstract

BACKGROUND

Transmission of pathogens within the hospital environment remains a hazard for hospitalized patients. Healthcare personnel clothing and devices carried by them may harbor pathogens and contribute to the risk of pathogen transmission.

OBJECTIVE

To examine bacterial contamination of healthcare personnel attire and commonly used devices.

METHODS

Systematic review.

RESULTS

Of 1,175 studies screened, 72 individual studies assessed contamination of a variety of items, including white coats, neckties, stethoscopes, and mobile electronic devices, with varied pathogens including Staphylococcus aureus, including methicillin-resistant S. aureus, gram-negative rods, and enterococci. Contamination rates varied significantly across studies and by device but in general ranged from 0 to 32% for methicillin-resistant S. aureus and gram-negative rods. Enterococcus was a less common contaminant. Few studies explicitly evaluated for the presence of Clostridium difficile. Sampling and microbiologic techniques varied significantly across studies. Four studies evaluated for possible connection between healthcare personnel contaminants and clinical isolates with no unequivocally direct link identified.

CONCLUSIONS

Further studies to explore the relationship between healthcare personnel attire and devices and clinical infection are needed.

Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2016;1–7

Type
Original Articles
Information
Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology , Volume 37 , Issue 11 , November 2016 , pp. 1367 - 1373
Copyright
© 2016 by The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America. All rights reserved 

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