title: Tap Water has No Influence on Microbial Colonization of Skin Wounds in Rats.
abstract: ﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿ The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of tap water on microbial colonization of skin wounds in rats.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cir- cular wound 2.4 cm in diameter was created on the back of 40 Wistar rats, which were randomly assigned to the control (n = 20) or study (n = 20) group. The wounds were cleansed daily using a sterile 0.9% sodium chloride solution (control group) or tap water (study group) for 6 days, following a standardized protocol. Sequential samples were collected for microbiological analysis every other day.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Microbial growth occurred in 49% of the samples from the control group and in 47% of the samples from the study group (P = 0.39). There was no significant difference in microbial growth between groups for the different culture media: thioglycolate (P = 0.20), mannitol salt agar (P = 0.53), blood agar (P = 0.61), eosin methylene blue agar (P = 0.51), and Sabouraud agar (P = 0.34). The following microorganisms were identified: Bacil- lus subtilis, Staphylococcus sp, Aureobasidium sp, Penicillium sp, and Cladosporium sp.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The use of tap water for cleansing skin wounds in rats had no effect on microbial colonization compared with the use of a sterile saline solution. ﻿﻿﻿.
authors: ﻿Universidade do Vale do Sapucaí, Pouso Alegre, Brazil.
authors: Margarida
authors: M
authors: Resende
authors: Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil; emai:bernardohochman@uol.com.br.
authors: Bernardo
authors: B
authors: Hochman
authors: Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors: Alfredo
authors: A
authors: Gragnani
authors: Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors: Daniela F
authors: DF
authors: Viega
authors: Universidade do Vale do Sapucaí, Pouso Alegre, Brazil.
authors: Carlos
authors: C
authors: Damasceno
authors: Universidade do Vale do Sapucaí, Pouso Alegre, Brazil.
authors: Yara
authors: Y
authors: Juliano
authors: Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors: Lydie
authors: L
authors: Ferreira