American Journal of Infection Control (AJIC)

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Are hospital floors an underappreciated reservoir for transmission of health care-associated pathogens?

American Journal of Infection Control
Volume 45, Issue 3, 1 March 2017, Pages 336 - 338

Highlights

  • Patient room floors in 5 hospitals were often contaminated with health care associated pathogens.
  • It was not uncommon for high-touch objects to be direct contact with the floor.
  • Touching objects on the floor frequently resulted in transfer of pathogens to hands
  • Floors in hospital rooms could be an underappreciated source for pathogen dissemination.

In a survey of 5 hospitals, we found that floors in patient rooms were frequently contaminated with pathogens and high-touch objects such as blood pressure cuffs and call buttons were often in contact with the floor.  Contact with objects on floors frequently resulted in transfer of pathogens to hands.

Abhishek Deshpande, MD, PhD, Jennifer L. Cadnum, BS,Dennis Fertelli, BS, Brett Sitzlar, BS, MPH, Priyaleela Thota, MD, Thriveen S. Mana, MS, MBA, Annette Jencson, MT, CIC, Heba Alhmidi, MD, Sreelatha Koganti, MD, Curtis J. Donskey, MD

Source: https://www.ajicjournal.org/article/S0196-6553(16)31014-8/abstract