Retention of E. coli and water on the skin after liquid contact

Abstract

The frequent contact people have with liquids containing pathogenic microorganisms provides opportunities for disease transmission. In this work, we quantified the transfer of bacteria—using E . coli as a model- from liquid to skin, estimated liquid retention on the skin after different contact activities (hand immersion, wet-cloth and wet-surface contact), and estimated liquid transfer following hand-to-mouth contacts. The results of our study show that the number of E . coli transferred to the skin per surface area (n [ E . coli /cm 2 ]) can be modeled using n = C (10 −3.38 + h ), where C [ E . coli /cm 3 ] is the concentration of E . coli in the liquid, and h [cm] is the film thickness of the liquid retained on the skin. Findings from the E . coli transfer experiments reveal a significant difference between the transfer of E . coli from liquid to the skin and the previously reported transfer of viruses to the skin. Additionally, our results demonstrate that the time elapsed since the interaction significantly influences liquid retention, therefore modulating the risks associated with human interaction with contaminated liquids. The findings enhance our understanding of liquid-mediated disease transmission processes and provide quantitative estimates as inputs for microbial risk assessments.

Microbiological Health Risk Assessment of Water Conservation Strategies: A Case Study in Amsterdam

“…However, there is still an uncertainty in this result as the adsorption rate of S. aureus to skin is still not available. The E. coli adsorption rate found by Pitol [ 49 ] was used instead as the adsorption rate for S. aureus . The uncertainty comes from the differences between the two bacteria, as E. coli is a Gram-negative bacteria, and S. aureus is a Gram-positive bacteria.…”

“…The uncertainty comes from the differences between the two bacteria, as E. coli is a Gram-negative bacteria, and S. aureus is a Gram-positive bacteria. It has been observed that there is a difference of transfer efficiencies between Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria to skin [ 49 ]. Therefore, future study on the adsorption rate of S. aureus to skin is needed to get a more certain result.…”

“…As for dermal contact route, it has been found that short contact times (0.1–30 min) had little to no influence on pathogen transfer [ 48 ]. Adsorption of pathogens to the skin (represented in Equation (3)) is influenced by the concentration of pathogens in water and the thickness of water on the skin after contact with water [ 48 , 49 ]. It is assumed that drying the body with a towel will leave no water on the skin after showering.…”

The sigmoidostomy as a determining factor in the change of cutaneous bacterial colonization

“…The anaerobic bacterium, Bacteroides fragilis, presented the average of 1.2×1010, followed by the Bacteroides spp with 9.9×109 and the Peptococcus spp with 6.9×109. As for the analysis of the number of microorganisms per gram of tissue, according to the malign colorectal neoplasic condition, the main aerobic bacterium was the Escherichia coli, which presented the average of 2.7×10 10 , followed by the Staphylococcus epidermidis with 2.6×10 10 and the Klebsiella spp with 2.2×10 10 . The aerobic bacterium Bacteroides spp, presented the average of 2.5×10 10 , followed by the Peptococcus spp with 1.8×10 10 and the Bacteroides fragilis with the average of 6.8×10 9 , according to what was described by Table 3.…”

“…As a result, the quantity of pathogens retained on the skin after liquid contact is a function of both the volume of liquid on the skin and the concentration of the agent in the liquid. Exogenous factors such as temperature, humidity or the use of topical products have an impact on the hydration of the skin, and skin hydration could potentially infl uence water retention [10], fact that can be transposed to the fecal content that is in frequent contact with the cutaneous surface.…”