Healthcare workers (HCWs) uniforms are subject to increasing debate regarding the levels of bacterial contamination and the clinical significance of any pathogenic contaminants. Some information is available within the literature, however much of this is dated, and there stilI lacks a standard, reproducible sampling method for use on HCWs uniforms that could be easily implemented worldwide. During this study there was recovery of S. aureus, MRSA, and Enterococcus spp. in communal staff changing rooms, clearly demonstrating that such non-patient areas present sources for the transmission of pathogenic bacteria between wards within the hospital. It was established that current international standard methods of determining antimicrobial activity in fabrics may not provide accurate indications of the efficacy of such products under ward conditions, or dealing effectively with "wild type" agents of hospital acquired infections. These findings suggest that further work is necessary in the development and use of such fabrics. Furthermore, contact plates were optimised as a method for the sampling of used nurses scrub suits and assessing the 'in-use' effect of antimicrobial impregnated fabrics. The main finding of this project was that scrub suits frequently became (and remained) heavily contaminated with pathogenic bacteria during ward use. MRSA was recovered from 40 % of standard nurses scrub suits, and 38% of antimicrobial impregnated (Permagard) scrub suits. Thus, the incorporation of Permagard fabric had no observable effect on the incidence of contamination on scrub suits under ward conditions. MRSA was enumerated at 1.65 cfus per 25 cm2 suggesting counts of around 100-200 cfus per 25 cm''.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:560809 |
| Date | January 2012 |
| Creators | Johnston, Suzanne |
| Publisher | University of Ulster |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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