Volume 7, Number 2—April 2001
THEME ISSUE
4th Decennial International Conference on Nosocomial and Healthcare-Associated Infections
Prevention is Primary
Hygiene of the Skin: When Is Clean Too Clean?
Elaine Larson
Table
Microbial flora colonizing hands of health-care professionals
| A. Microbial counts | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year (reference) | Sample (# subjects) | Mean log10 CFUa | |||
| 1986 (62) | Staff of bone marrow transplant unit (n = 22) | 4. 89 | |||
| 1992 (63) | Pediatric staff, Peru (n = 62) | 5.88 | |||
| 1997 (64) | Nurses in acute care unit (n = 40) | 5.61 | |||
| B. Resistance of coagulase-negative staphylococcal flora | |||||
| Resistant (%) to | |||||
| Year (reference) | Sample (no. of isolates) | methicillin | tetracycline | ||
| 1986 (62) | Staff of bone marrow transplant unit (50) | 68.0 | 23.0 | ||
| 1988 (65) | oncology, dermatology staff (152) | 50.7 | 30.7 | ||
| 1992 (63) | Pediatric staff, Peru (279) | 40.9 | 45.4 | ||
| 1997 (64) | Acute care nurses (122) | 59.0 | 10.5 | ||
aCFU = Colony-forming unit
