title: Aerobic Bacteria in the Diaphragmatic Portion of Stethoscope of Medical Professionals of Tertiary Care Hospital.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Hospital environment is a reservoir of wide varieties of microorganisms which are frequently reported colonizing in medical equipment. Stethoscopes are essential tools and of universal use in the medical profession, which might be a source of spreading nosocomial infections. This research project was conducted with an aim to assess the presence of aerobic bacteria in the stethoscope of the medical doctors working at Patan Hospital and students of Patan Academy of Health Sciences.
  
  
  METHODS
  It is a cross sectional study based on structured questionnaire and sample assessment from the stethoscope of doctors and students of Patan Hospital and Patan Academy of Health Sciences. The stethescopes used by the doctors of five major departments of Patan Hospital and students of clinical years were included in this study.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Total of 99 stethoscope owned by different level of professionals (positions) and different departments were examined for bacterial contamination. Out of them, 36 were found to be considerably contaminated. Single strain of bacteria was grown from a single stethoscope. Among them 34 were Gram positive and remaining were Gram negative. Out of 34 gram postive bacteria, 29 were identified as Staphylococcus aureus, six were identified as Coagulase Negative Staphylococcus and remaining were Gram positive bacilli.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There is presence of aerobic bacteria in diaphragmatic portion of stethoscope of medical professional of which the gram positives were the commonest.
authors.affiliation: Patan Academy of Health Sciences-School of Medicine, Lagankhel, Lalitpur, Nepal.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bham
authors.affiliation: Patan Academy of Health Sciences-School of Medicine, Lagankhel, Lalitpur, Nepal.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bhandari
authors.affiliation: Patan Academy of Health Sciences-School of Medicine, Lagankhel, Lalitpur, Nepal.
authors.forename: M R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Neupane
authors.affiliation: Patan Academy of Health Sciences-School of Medicine, Lagankhel, Lalitpur, Nepal.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Dawadi
authors.affiliation: Patan Academy of Health Sciences-School of Medicine, Lagankhel, Lalitpur, Nepal.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pradhan
mesh_terms: D001420:Bacteria, Aerobic / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D003428:Cross Infection; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004203:Disinfection; D004866:Equipment Contamination; D006090:Gram-Negative Bacteria / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006801:Humans; D010820:Physicians; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000302:isolation & purification; D019023:Stethoscopes / Q000382:microbiology*; D013337:Students, Medical; D062606:Tertiary Care Centers
keywords: anaerobic bacteria; stethescope; medical professionals; patan hospital.