Evaluation of surface contamination with staphylococci in a veterinary hospital using a quantitative microbiological method.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate microbial contamination of the environment in a veterinary hospital using standards recommended for human hospitals and to provide a baseline against which further investigations can be compared.


METHODS
Surfaces were sampled twice daily for five consecutive days using a contact-based counting method to measure the levels of staphylococci in colony forming units (cfu) per cm².


RESULTS
Current recommendations for human hospitals were applied in this study; all samples with <2.5 cfu/cm² staphylococci were considered to have passed and those with ≥2.5 cfu/cm² to have failed. Of all the samples, 55.9% failed. The ICU did not have significantly higher failure rates than other areas of the hospital. The floor as a surface was associated with greater than a threefold increase in odds of elevated cfu concentrations relative to the door handle.


CONCLUSIONS
This study provides information on the microbiological cleanliness of a veterinary teaching hospital using techniques and standards adopted by the food industry and recommended for human hospitals. This data can be used as a baseline for other hospitals, to evaluate the effectiveness in improvements in hygiene and cleaning measures and to design effective hospital cleaning protocols and assess ongoing hygiene standards.
Royal Veterinary College, The Queen Mother Hospital, Hawkshead Lane, North Mymms, Hertfordshire AL9 7TA.
E
E
Aksoy
A
A
Boag
D
D
Brodbelt
J
J
Grierson
D000818:Animals; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial / Q000379:methods / Q000662:veterinary*; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000662:veterinary; D004783:Environmental Microbiology; D004866:Equipment Contamination; D006762:Hospitals, Animal / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D013210:Staphylococcus / Q000302:isolation & purification*