Study suggests use of antimicrobial scrubs may reduce bacterial burden on health care worker apparel
January 19, 2012 by Malorie Burkett in Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes
(Medical Xpress) -- The use of antimicrobial impregnated scrubs combined with good hand hygiene is effective in reducing the burden of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) on health care workers apparel and may potentially play a role in decreasing the risk of MRSA transmission to patients, according to a new study from Virginia Commonwealth University researchers.
Previous findings have shown that hospital textiles may contribute to the transmission of pathogens through indirect contact via the hands of hospital staff and that antimicrobial textiles may reduce the bioburden, or the number of bacteria living on a surface before sterilization in clinical settings.
Led by Gonzalo Bearman, M.D.,M.P.H., associate professor of internal medicine in the VCU School of Medicine and associate hospital epidemiologist at the VCU Medical Center, the study A Crossover Trial of Antimicrobial Scrubs to Reduce Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus Burden on Healthcare Worker Apparel, is currently available online and will appear in the March issue of the journal Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, the official publication of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America.
We strive to study infection prevention interventions that are simple yet effective for the reduction of health care associated infections, said Bearman. The goal is to affect change or implement risk reduction by methods that are both easily implemented and sustained.
In the study, 32 health care workers wore four pairs of identically appearing control scrubs and study scrubs impregnated with an antimicrobial, or germ-killing, compound over the course of four months, washing them regularly. Participants also received identical hand hygiene educational sessions every four weeks, and researchers assessed compliance with hand hygiene practices.
Researchers conducted once weekly, unannounced, garment and hand cultures of participants at the start and end of each shift where they obtained two samples from the garments abdominal area and cargo pant pocket two areas of high touch and high bacterial colonization.
According to Bearman, although the scrubs did not impact the degree of MRSA on the health care workers hands, the antimicrobial scrubs were effective in reducing the burden of MRSA on health care worker apparel.
It is critical for health care workers and patients to understand that the environmentincluding inanimate surfaces and apparel is not sterile, and is frequently a reservoir of drug resistant bacteria, said Bearman. Meticulous hand hygiene at the point of patient care is critical for reducing the risk of a hospital acquired infection.
If widespread antimicrobial scrub use were added to existing infection prevention strategies, a further decrease in hospital acquired infections may occur by limiting the cross transmission of pathogens via apparel. The actual impact of antimicrobial scrubs on hospital acquired infections needs further study, he said.
The scrubs tested in the study were manufactured by Vestagen Technical Textiles.
Bearman collaborated with VCU researchers Kakotan Sanogo, Michael P. Stevens, M.D., Curtis Sessler, M.D., Richard Wenzel, M.D., along with Adriana Rosato, Ph.D., Methodist Hospital Research Institute and Kara Elam, doctoral student, University of Mississippi.
More information: To view the complete study, visit www.jstor.org/stab… .1086/664045
Provided by
Virginia Commonwealth University
-
Researchers downplay MRSA screening as effective infection control intervention
Oct 23, 2008 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Handwashing more important than isolation in controlling MRSA superbug infection
Mar 31, 2009 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Latex gloves lead to lax hand hygiene in hospitals, study finds
Nov 03, 2011 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Community-associated staph infections involving antibiotic-resistant bacteria increase
May 28, 2007 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Study reports predictors of poor hand hygiene in an emergency department
Oct 03, 2011 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Motion perception revisited: High Phi effect challenges established motion perception assumptions
Apr 23, 2013 |
3 / 5 (2) |
2
-
Anything you can do I can do better: Neuromolecular foundations of the superiority illusion (Update)
Apr 02, 2013 |
4.5 / 5 (11) |
5
-
The visual system as economist: Neural resource allocation in visual adaptation
Mar 30, 2013 |
5 / 5 (2) |
9
-
Separate lives: Neuronal and organismal lifespans decoupled
Mar 27, 2013 |
4.9 / 5 (8) |
0
-
Sizing things up: The evolutionary neurobiology of scale invariance
Feb 28, 2013 |
4.8 / 5 (10) |
14
-
Classical and Quantum Mechanics via Lie algebras
Apr 15, 2011
- More from Physics Forums - Independent Research
More news stories
WHO: Scientific red tape mars efforts vs. virus
International efforts to combat a new pneumonia-like virus that has now killed 22 people are being slowed by unclear rules and competition for the potentially profitable rights to disease samples, the head ...
Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes
9 hours ago |
not rated yet |
0
Shortage of key drug hampering U.S. efforts to control TB, report says
(HealthDay)—A shortage of a critical tuberculosis drug has hampered the efforts of health departments across the United States to contain the spread of the highly infectious lung disease, federal officials ...
Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes
9 hours ago |
not rated yet |
0
Heart healthy lifestyle may cut kidney disease patients' risk of kidney failure
Maintaining a heart healthy lifestyle may also help protect chronic kidney disease patients from developing kidney failure and dying prematurely, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the Am ...
Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes
10 hours ago |
not rated yet |
0
Flu vaccine also linked to narcolepsy in adults, study reports
Finnish researchers unveiled new data Thursday to link the Pandemrix flu vaccine to a higher risk of the sleeping disorder narcolepsy in adults.
Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes
10 hours ago |
not rated yet |
0
Second child contracts polio in Pakistan's Waziristan
A second child has contracted polio in a restive Pakistani tribal region near the Afghan border after the Taliban banned vaccinations there nearly a year ago, a UN official said Thursday.
Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes
11 hours ago |
not rated yet |
0
Controlling mood through the motions of mitochondria
(Medical Xpress)—Regulating the distribution of power in neurons is done by a system that makes the national electric grid look simple by comparison. Each neuron has several thousand mitochondria confined ...
Motion quotient: IQ predicted by ability to filter motion (w/ video)
A brief visual task can predict IQ, according to a new study. This surprisingly simple exercise measures the brain's unconscious ability to filter out visual movement. The study shows that individuals whose ...
Multiple research teams unable to confirm high-profile Alzheimer's study
Teams of highly respected Alzheimer's researchers failed to replicate what appeared to be breakthrough results for the treatment of this brain disease when they were published last year in the journal Science.
Scientists discover molecule triggers sensation of itch
Scientists at the National Institutes of Health report they have discovered in mouse studies that a small molecule released in the spinal cord triggers a process that is later experienced in the brain as ...
Researchers find common childhood asthma unconnected to allergens or inflammation
Little is known about why asthma develops, how it constricts the airway or why response to treatments varies between patients. Now, a team of researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College, Columbia University Medical Center ...
Diabetes' genetic underpinnings can vary based on ethnic background, studies say
Ethnic background plays a surprisingly large role in how diabetes develops on a cellular level, according to two new studies led by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine.