Good hand hygiene could reduce risk of hospital infections
Although computer keyboards and mice used in hospital wards are a potential source of bacterial contamination, rates are low, possibly as the result of good hand hygiene, researchers in Taiwan have found.
Yen-Hsu Chen, from Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Taiwan, led a team of researchers who studied IT equipment in a 1,600-bed medical centre in southern Taiwan with 47 wards and 282 computers. They investigated the association of three leading hospital-acquired pathogens – methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Acinetobacter baumannii – from ward computer keyboards and mice.
“Most hospital computer devices are not waterproof, or otherwise designed for disinfection needs,’ said Chen. “Clinically, A. baumannii, P. aeruginosa, and MRSA cause the most common nosocomial infections, and their presence correlates with environmental surface contamination. We screened 282 computer stations, looking for these bacteria and other, less dangerous, species.”
The results, published by BioMed Central in the journal BMC Infectious Diseases, revealed a 17.4% (49/282) contamination rate of S. aureus, Acinetobacter spp. or Pseudomonas spp. The contamination rates of MRSA and A. baumannii in the ward computers were 1.1% and 4.3%, respectively. No P. aeruginosa was found.
According to Chen: “No clinical correlation of contamination of these computer devices to clinical isolates was found. Routine disinfection and even surveillance of these computer devices may not be mandatory in non-outbreak settings.”
www.biomedcentral.com/bmcinfectdis/ www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2334/9/164