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A Microbiological Assessment of Stethoscopes Used by Clinicians in a Tertiary Hospital in Benin City, Nigeria.
Ehondor, Ogie Tada; Ibadin, Ephraim Ehidiamen.
Afiliação
  • Ehondor OT; Department of Medicine, University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria.
  • Ibadin EE; Medical Microbiology Division, Medical Laboratory Services, University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin City, Nigeria.
Malays J Med Sci ; 30(4): 94-101, 2023 Aug.
Article em En | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-37655151
Background: The hospital environment serves as a niche for pathogenic microorganisms, so efforts are constantly being made to identify the potential mode of microbial pathogen transmission causing clinical infections. Objective: The aim of this study was to microbiologically examine the stethoscopes used by clinicians at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) in Benin, Nigeria. Methods: A total of 106 clinicians' stethoscopes were cleaned using cotton-tipped swabs dampened with normal saline. This included both earpieces along with the diaphragm (three samples per stethoscope). The samples were then sent to the Medical Microbiology Laboratory of UBTH and processed immediately as per the standard guidelines. The emergent colonies were subsequently identified, and antimicrobial susceptibility tests were performed. Results: A total of 114 (35.8%) bacterial isolates were recovered, including Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) (33.3%), coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS) (33.3%), Bacillus spp. (22.8%), Acinetobacter spp. (5.3%), Escherichia coli (E. coli) (1.8%) and Klebsiella spp. (3.5%). Diaphragms had the highest yield of methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) (46.2%) and CoNS (17.9%). Age (P = 0.0387) and cadre of clinician (P = 0.0043) were risk factors for contamination, whereas clinicians who never cleaned their stethoscopes (P = 0.0044) or cleaned only the earpieces (P = 0.0001) had more contaminated stethoscopes. Conclusion: The contamination rate of stethoscopes used by clinicians in Benin City was 56.6%. There is a need to establish proper stethoscope cleaning practices for all cadres of personnel in clinical practice to minimise health risks to patients and healthcare workers (HCW).
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Texto completo: 1 Coleções: 01-internacional Base de dados: MEDLINE Tipo de estudo: Guideline / Prognostic_studies / Risk_factors_studies Idioma: En Ano de publicação: 2023 Tipo de documento: Article

Texto completo: 1 Coleções: 01-internacional Base de dados: MEDLINE Tipo de estudo: Guideline / Prognostic_studies / Risk_factors_studies Idioma: En Ano de publicação: 2023 Tipo de documento: Article