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Bacterial contamination on used face masks among nursing home healthcare personnel

OBJECTIVES: Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, face masks have been worn by many in public areas and for prolonged periods by healthcare workers (HCWs). This may facilitate bacterial contamination and transmission to and from patients in nursing homes where clinical care areas with strict...

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Autores principales: Nightingale, Madison, Mody, Manali, Rickard, Alexander H., Cassone, Marco
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Cambridge University Press 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10031582/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36970428
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/ash.2023.130
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author Nightingale, Madison
Mody, Manali
Rickard, Alexander H.
Cassone, Marco
author_facet Nightingale, Madison
Mody, Manali
Rickard, Alexander H.
Cassone, Marco
author_sort Nightingale, Madison
collection PubMed
description OBJECTIVES: Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, face masks have been worn by many in public areas and for prolonged periods by healthcare workers (HCWs). This may facilitate bacterial contamination and transmission to and from patients in nursing homes where clinical care areas with strict precautions and residential and activity areas are interconnected. We assessed and compared bacterial mask colonization in HCWs belonging to different demographic categories and professions (clinical and nonclinical) and among HCWs who had worn the mask for different periods of time. DESIGN, SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: We conducted a point-prevalence study of 69 HCW masks at the end of a typical work shift in a 105-bed nursing home serving postacute care and rehabilitation patients. Information collected about the mask user included profession, age, sex, length of time the mask was worn, and known exposure to patients with colonization. RESULTS: In total, 123 distinct bacterial isolates were recovered (1–5 isolates per mask), including Staphylococcus aureus from 11 masks (15.9%) and gram-negative bacteria of clinical importance from 22 masks (31.9%). Antibiotic resistance rates were low. There were no significant differences in the number of clinically important bacteria among masks worn more or less than 6 hours, and there were no significant differences among HCWs with different job functions or exposure to colonized patients. CONCLUSIONS: Bacterial mask contamination was not associated with HCW profession or exposure and did not increase after 6 hours of mask wearing in our nursing home setting. Bacteria contaminating HCW masks may differ from those colonizing patients.
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spelling pubmed-100315822023-03-23 Bacterial contamination on used face masks among nursing home healthcare personnel Nightingale, Madison Mody, Manali Rickard, Alexander H. Cassone, Marco Antimicrob Steward Healthc Epidemiol Original Article OBJECTIVES: Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, face masks have been worn by many in public areas and for prolonged periods by healthcare workers (HCWs). This may facilitate bacterial contamination and transmission to and from patients in nursing homes where clinical care areas with strict precautions and residential and activity areas are interconnected. We assessed and compared bacterial mask colonization in HCWs belonging to different demographic categories and professions (clinical and nonclinical) and among HCWs who had worn the mask for different periods of time. DESIGN, SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: We conducted a point-prevalence study of 69 HCW masks at the end of a typical work shift in a 105-bed nursing home serving postacute care and rehabilitation patients. Information collected about the mask user included profession, age, sex, length of time the mask was worn, and known exposure to patients with colonization. RESULTS: In total, 123 distinct bacterial isolates were recovered (1–5 isolates per mask), including Staphylococcus aureus from 11 masks (15.9%) and gram-negative bacteria of clinical importance from 22 masks (31.9%). Antibiotic resistance rates were low. There were no significant differences in the number of clinically important bacteria among masks worn more or less than 6 hours, and there were no significant differences among HCWs with different job functions or exposure to colonized patients. CONCLUSIONS: Bacterial mask contamination was not associated with HCW profession or exposure and did not increase after 6 hours of mask wearing in our nursing home setting. Bacteria contaminating HCW masks may differ from those colonizing patients. Cambridge University Press 2023-03-15 /pmc/articles/PMC10031582/ /pubmed/36970428 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/ash.2023.130 Text en © The Author(s) 2023 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution and reproduction, provided the original article is properly cited.
spellingShingle Original Article
Nightingale, Madison
Mody, Manali
Rickard, Alexander H.
Cassone, Marco
Bacterial contamination on used face masks among nursing home healthcare personnel
title Bacterial contamination on used face masks among nursing home healthcare personnel
title_full Bacterial contamination on used face masks among nursing home healthcare personnel
title_fullStr Bacterial contamination on used face masks among nursing home healthcare personnel
title_full_unstemmed Bacterial contamination on used face masks among nursing home healthcare personnel
title_short Bacterial contamination on used face masks among nursing home healthcare personnel
title_sort bacterial contamination on used face masks among nursing home healthcare personnel
topic Original Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10031582/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36970428
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/ash.2023.130
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