title: Acquisition of bacteria on health care workers' hands after contact with patient privacy curtains.
abstract: To determine whether pathogenic bacteria could be transferred to health care workers by touching privacy curtains, imprints of health care workers' fingertips were obtained when participants were approached, after hand hygiene with alcohol handrub, and directly after handling curtains. Participants' hands were heavily contaminated at baseline, in some cases with potentially pathogenic species. Half of the participants (n = 30) acquired bacteria on their fingertips from handling curtains, illustrating that privacy curtains may be involved in the transmission of infection to emergency department patients.
authors.affiliation: Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Mike
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Larocque
authors.affiliation: Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada; Schwartz/Reisman Emergency Medicine Institute, Toronto, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Sally
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Carver
authors.affiliation: Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Addison
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bertrand
authors.affiliation: Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada; Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada; Division of Medical Microbiology, Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada. Electronic address: amcgeer@mtsinai.on.ca.
authors.forename: Allison
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: McGeer
authors.affiliation: Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada; Schwartz/Reisman Emergency Medicine Institute, Toronto, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Shelley
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: McLeod
authors.affiliation: Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada; Schwartz/Reisman Emergency Medicine Institute, Toronto, ON, Canada; Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Bjug
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Borgundvaag
mesh_terms: D001419:Bacteria / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D004783:Environmental Microbiology; D006225:Hand / Q000382:microbiology*; D006282:Health Personnel; D006801:Humans; D011446:Prospective Studies
keywords: Bacterial contamination; hand hygiene