The effect of surgical theatre head-gear on air bacterial counts.
The wearing of disposable head-gear in operating theatres is currently recommended for scrubbed and non-scrubbed staff. However, there is little evidence of its effectiveness as an infection control measure in casual or non-scrubbed theatre staff. The effect of head-gear on bacterial air counts was studied, using six volunteers, in a sealed room, with and without ventilation. Using a Casella slit sampler and a SAS Air Sampler, air counts ranged from 0.08 to greater than 2.9 colony forming units (cfu) m-3. The wearing of head-gear was not associated with a reduction in air counts but counts were lower with ventilation. We recommend that non-scrubbed staff no longer wear head-gear as effective ventilation probably counteracts any possible increased bacterial shedding. Scrubbed staff should continue to wear disposable head-gear because of their proximity to the operative field.
Department of Medical Microbiology and Infection Control, Southmead Hospital, Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol.
H
H
Humphreys
A J
AJ
Russell
R J
RJ
Marshall
V E
VE
Ricketts
D S
DS
Reeves
D000391:Air Microbiology; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D004209:Disposable Equipment; D006197:Hair; D006257:Head; D006801:Humans; D009873:Operating Rooms / Q000592:standards*; D010564:Personnel, Hospital / Q000592:standards*; D011481:Protective Clothing / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013530:Surgical Wound Infection / Q000517:prevention & control; D014691:Ventilation