Stethoscopes: a potential source of hospital acquired infection

Background: Nosocomial infection has been recognized for over a century as both a critical problem affecting the quality of health care and a leading cause of morbidity, mortality and increased health care cost. Stethoscopes because of their universal use by medical professional, can be a potential source of nosocomial infections. The study was conducted to determine the bacterial contamination of stethoscopes used by health care staff as well as the practices used for cleaning them.Methods: A structured questionnaire was administered to health workers and the surface of the diaphragm of their stethoscopes swabbed for bacteriological analysis using standard techniques.Results: Of the 65 stethoscopes sampled, 33(50.8%) showed bacterial growth. All the bacterial isolates were found to be gram positive organism. The isolates were Micrococcus spp. (35.8%), Coagulase negative staphylococcus (CONS) (30.8%), Bacillus spp. (15.4%), Staphylococcus aureus (10.3%) and Diphtheroids (7.7%).Conclusions: Further research is needed to solve the question whether stethoscope contamination actually results in infection in the patient. However strict adherence to disinfection practices by health workers can minimize cross-contamination and ensure patient safety in hospital environments.