Brief report: bacteriological sampling of telephones and other hospital staff hand-contact objects.
In an acute-care general hospital, 114 telephones, intercoms, dictaphones, and bedpan flusher handles were sampled in patient-care areas for type of bacterial contamination. Nine of these (7%) demonstrated potentially pathogenic bacteria including Klebsiella, Enterobacter, Pseudomonas and Aeromonas. Inanimate, environmental, staff hand-contact objects were only lightly contaminated, did not represent a significant reservoir of gram-negative organisms, and therefore, would be unlikely to be a vehicle of transmission of gram-negative bacteria from the hands of one staff member to another under routine circumstances. Surveillance and disinfection of telephones and related hand-contact items in the hospital appear unnecessary.
D000333:Aeromonas / Q000302:isolation & purification; D001407:Bacillus / Q000302:isolation & purification; D001419:Bacteria / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000517:prevention & control*; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000517:prevention & control*; D004197:Disease Reservoirs; D004755:Enterobacteriaceae / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004866:Equipment Contamination; D006225:Hand; D006744:Hospital Bed Capacity, 100 to 299; D006801:Humans; D010414:Pennsylvania; D010564:Personnel, Hospital; D011549:Pseudomonas / Q000302:isolation & purification; D013210:Staphylococcus / Q000302:isolation & purification; D013291:Streptococcus / Q000302:isolation & purification; D013689:Telephone