Major ArticleBacterial contamination of health care workers' white coats
Section snippets
Study population
We conducted a cross-sectional study at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore, Maryland, an inner-city tertiary care hospital with 669 beds.16 In previous studies, this facility was found to have a colonization prevalence of 25% S aureus, 7% MRSA, and 5.2% VRE among recently admitted non-ICU patients, as well as a colonization prevalence of 7.2% MRSA, 10.1% VRE, and 2.7% co-colonized with MRSA and VRE among recently admitted medical and surgical ICU patients.17, 18 The medical
Results
Among the 149 participants who were wearing their white coats at study entry, 109 attended medical grand rounds and 40 attended surgical grand rounds. Table 1 shows the frequency of participants contaminated with S aureus isolates based on the demographic data and laundering habits. Overall, 22.8% (95% CI = 16.1% to 29.6%) were contaminated with S aureus and 4% (95% CI = 0.8% to 7.1%) were contaminated with MRSA. Twenty-nine white coats of the internal medicine participants (26.6%; 95% CI =
Discussion
Our data suggest that health care workers' white coats frequently are contaminated with S aureus, and that many of those isolates are methicillin-resistant, contradicting the conclusion of a recent review.15 The data are similar to those from previous evaluations of S aureus but lower than expected for resistant isolates of S aureus and enterococci.9, 10, 11, 12 These numbers also mirror the published rates of S aureus colonization seen in medical and surgical ICU inpatients and non-ICU
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2022, American Journal of Infection ControlCitation Excerpt :However, recent studies on doctors and medical students have shown that there are other reasons for the use of white coats in a clinical setting, including professionalism, holding of items, easy identification, and protection of clothes.3,4 Nevertheless, studies have found that white coats may be potential fomites.5 Antimicrobial-resistant organisms, such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and multi- and extensively drug resistant Acinetobacter baumannii were found to be present on white coats.6,7
Response to the letter to the editor: “Wearing a white coat in theory class during medical school, is it justified? ”
2022, American Journal of Infection Control