Infection Hazard From Stethoscopes in Hospital

Neck ties as vectors for nosocomial infection

“…Its source may be from the patient's own body or from contact with others. The hands of medical and nursing staff are most frequently responsible and other sources that have been implicated in the chain of cross infection include stethoscopes [3] and pens [4]. Neck ties come into inadvertent contact with patients and may be cleaned infrequently.…”

Stethoscopes as a Source of Hospital-Acquired Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus

“…As early as 1972, stethoscopes were identified as a fomite on which bacteria are capable of surviving for various amounts of time. 6 Escherichia coli has been reported to live on inanimate objects for 1.5 hours to 16 months; Staphylococcus aureus (including methicillin-resistant S aureus [MRSA]), 17 days to 7 months; and Clostridium difficile, 5 months. 7 Not only have these organisms been shown to survive on the surface of inanimate objects, but also it has been reported that bacteria may be transferred to human skin from surfaces.…”

“…9 Cleaning practices for assessment tools, such as stethoscopes, are erratic, and potentially pathogenic bacteria have been found on the diaphragms of stethoscopes of physicians and nurses. 10-12 Although the role of stethoscopes in the transmission of pathogens has been examined, 6,8,13 few studies have discussed the role of stethoscopes in the transmission of MRSA. 14 Common findings are reiterated throughout the literature.…”

When did the doctors become fomites?

“…Indeed, the role of the environment as a likely significant contributor to hospital-acquired infections (HAI) was proposed even earlier [1]. In 1873, Louis Pasteur in his lecture to the Academie de Médecine noted that, even after cleaning his hands and using heated sponges, he still had to fear germs surrounding patients' beds [2].…”

“…The risk that personnel equipment (white coat, stethoscope, mobile phones, or pagers) used at point of care might be responsible or co-responsible for cross-transmission of pathogenic bacteria to patients was signalled early in the 1970s for the use of stethoscopes [1]. In 1972, Gerken et al [1] demonstrated that coagulase-positive staphylococci were isolated from 21% of the stethoscopes in a British teaching hospital.…”