Contaminated gloves spread health care-associated pathogens across hospital surfaces

Issue: July 2016

BOSTON — Failure to change or remove contaminated gloves could contribute to the spread of several health care-associated infections and could especially impact the spread of Acinetobacter baumannii within health care settings, according to data presented here.

“Gloving is recommended as a barrier protection for health care workers to reduce the risk of contamination during contact with infectious sputum, urine and body fluids,” Kazue Fujita, MD, of the Nippon Medical School, Tokyo, said during a news conference. “Failure to change or remove contaminated gloves carries a high risk of microorganisms’ transmission.”

Kazue Fujita

Sae Otani

Fujita, Sae Otani, master course student at Bunkyo Gakuin University, Tokyo, and colleagues inoculated nitrile examination gloves with varying quantities of Escherichia coli, extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)–producing E. coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, ESBL-producing K. pneumoniae, A. baumannii, multidrug-resistant (MDR) A. baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa or MDR P. aeruginosa. They touched these gloves to a sterilized polypropylene surface either immediately after inoculation or after 3 minutes, when the gloves had dried, and quantified the transferred bacteria.

Each bacteria the researchers tested spread to the polypropylene surface when the transfer was conducted with a newly inoculated glove, and there was no difference in spread when examining antimicrobial-resistant or -susceptible pathogens. When the researchers waited until the glove was dry, however, only A. baumannii and MDR A. baumannii was detected on the sterilized surface.

These data imply that several bacteria may not spread when health care workers’ gloves are dried, Fujita said, potentially saving hospitals money and time that would otherwise be used for limiting the spread of these pathogens. In contrast, evidence suggesting A. baumannii’s persistence indicated a need for caution when dealing with this specific bacterium.

“A. baumannii are at high risk of transmission from gloves to hospital surfaces,” Fujita said. “Improving glove-use compliance will decrease the risk of health care-associated infections. It is also important to establish a basis for a risk assessment and management approach to each bacteria.”

Although the study provides new data concerning individual bacterium’s capacity to spread from gloves to fomites, Fujita said work is still required to quantify each species’ transmission in real-world settings. – by Dave Muoio

Reference:

Otani S, et al. Healthcare-associated pathogens among healthcare workers. Presented at: ASM Microbe; June 16-20, 2016; Boston.

Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.