Bacterial colonization of wristwatches worn by health care personnel.

We examined bacterial colonization of wristwatches worn by 100 health care personnel in a community-teaching hospital. Seventy-eight percent of the wristwatches were colonized with bacterial skin flora, with only 1 of the 100 watches growing a potential pathogen, Staphylococcus aureus. Watches are unlikely to be sources of health-care associated pathogens.