title: Bacterial ecology of hospital workers' facial hair: a cross-sectional study.
abstract: It is unknown whether healthcare workers' facial hair harbours nosocomial pathogens. We compared facial bacterial colonization rates among 408 male healthcare workers with and without facial hair. Workers with facial hair were less likely to be colonized with Staphylococcus aureus (41.2% vs 52.6%, P = 0.02) and meticillin-resistant coagulase-negative staphylococci (2.0% vs 7.0%, P = 0.01). Colonization rates with Gram-negative organisms were low for all healthcare workers, and Gram-negative colonization rates did not differ by facial hair type. Overall, colonization is similar in male healthcare workers with and without facial hair; however, certain bacterial species were more prevalent in workers without facial hair.
authors.affiliation: Center for Surgery and Public Health, Department of Surgery, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA. Electronic address: ewakeam@partners.org.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Wakeam
authors.affiliation: Center for Surgery and Public Health, Department of Surgery, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Surgery, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, NH, USA.
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Hernandez
authors.affiliation: Center for Surgery and Public Health, Department of Surgery, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rivera Morales
authors.affiliation: Center for Surgery and Public Health, Department of Surgery, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Surgery, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, UT, USA.
authors.forename: S R G
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Finlayson
authors.affiliation: Division of Infectious Disease, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Klompas
authors.affiliation: Center for Surgery and Public Health, Department of Surgery, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Zinner
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D058448:Biota; D002353:Carrier State / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D006197:Hair / Q000382:microbiology*; D006282:Health Personnel; D006761:Hospitals; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Bacterial ecology; Facial hair; Healthcare workers; Hospital-acquired infection