• 29
  • September
    2011

Medical professionals need to be a much better job of washing their hands. The failure to follow proper sanitary protocols is a common hospital error that leads to many infections - and those infections can be fatal.

Doctors' and nurses' hands aren't the only sources of possible infection, by any means. University of Iowa researchers recently presented data showing that hospital privacy curtains area a common source of bacteria that causes disease. The research team examined 43 curtains in 30 hospital rooms over a three-week period by taking twice-weekly swab cultures.

Fully 95 percent of the curtains tested in the study were contaminated. Even completely new curtains got that way within a week of being installed.

Dr. Michael Ohl presented the findings at a conference last week. "There is a growing recognition that the hospital environment plays an important role in the transmission of infections in the health care setting and it's clear that these (privacy curtains) are potentially important sites of contamination because they are frequently touched by patients and providers," he said.

Some of the bacteria detected in the study included species that are known to be resistant to antibiotics. These included the dangerous bacteria known as MRSA, for methicillin-resistant S. aureus.

The findings raise questions about how well hospitals are doing in preventing patients from getting infectious diseases while in the hospital. Hospitals need to take proactive steps to encourage medical staff to follow better sanitary protocols. After pulling the privacy curtain, workers should wash their hands before interacting with the patient.

Other bacteria-fighting tactics could be used as well. Privacy curtains could be disinfected more often and changed more often. But the most immediate sanitary protocol should still be hand washing.

Source: "Hospital Privacy Curtains Laden With Germs," FoxNews, 9-23-11